Press Release (96)34 12 Mar 1996

Meetings of NATO Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society with Cooperation Partners On 11-12 March 1996, the NATO Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society (CCMS) held its annual meeting with Cooperation Partners at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. Representatives from Austria, Finland, Sweden and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia also attended as observers. NATO Secretary General, Dr. Javier Solana, gave the opening address. The Russian First Deputy Minister of Environment, Mr. Aleksej Poryadin, and Lieutenant General Sergei Grigorov from the Ministry of Defence, met in a special session with the members of CCMS to broaden and enhance NATO/Russia dialogue on topics related to environment and security. Dr. Jean-Marie Cadiou, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Scientific and Environmental Affairs chaired the meetings. Nations were represented by senior officials of Ministries of Defence, Foreign Affairs and Environment. Participants exchanged information about ongoing CCMS pilot studies which cover a broad spectrum of environmental issues, including defence-related environmental problems. The Committee launched two new pilot studies at the meeting. The first, which is entitled "Environment and Security in an International Context", will be led by Germany and the United States. Its purpose is to analyse the relationship between environmental change and security in an international, regional and global context. The second, "Environment Management Systems in the Military Sector", to be led by the Netherlands and the United States, will focus on key elements of environmental management, such as assessment of environmental effects, formulation of environmental policy statements and setting environmental objectives. Participants were informed that the NATO/CCMS Environmental Clearing House System (ECHS) was now operational through an electronic bulletin board system. Based on the World-Wide-Web (WWW) technology, its purpose is to provide the various countries involved in pilot studies with a forum where they can exchange information. The ECHS gives the CCMS pilot studies and participating nations a means to access, retrieve and share environmental information of common interest. The Clearing House can be accessed by any Internet user at: http://echs.ida.org/. For further information please contact Dr. Deniz Yksel-Beten, NATO/CCMS Programme Director, 1110 Brussels (Tel. Int'l + 32-2-707.48.46, fax: 707.4232).