Belgrade's Environment for Europe may not have produced breathtaking results, but at least the process remains alive and kicking
By Pavel Antonov
As communicator by profession and networker by inclination, I am not particularly hard-wired to produce an unbiased critique of the ministerial summit in Belgrade, which took place on October 10-12. For one thing, I tend to be overly positive about events that offer a melting pot of ideas, projects, politics and investment — and the Belgrade conference is certainly an example of such an event. Indeed, Belgrade drew the largest crowd of decision- and policy makers, professionals, donors, activists and passersby to talk about the environment since the previous UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) conference, held five years ago. In the end, there was a final declaration, a few thematic statements and countless side events to solidify Belgrade's legacy; but to better understand what actually happened there, I took on board the assessments of a person who was involved with the particularities of the process, both before and during Belgrade. Tibor Farago, Hungary's chief environmental negotiator for the past decade, suggested that I write about what didn't happen in Belgrade. With little hope that he would take my advice on, say, how to draft a ministerial statement, I took his advice.
