Baltic States – CIS, Ecology, Energy, EU – Baltic States, Forum, Latvia, Legislation

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Falkenberg mentioned rivers as an example – they rarely start and end within the territory of one state, however, their water is consumed by all people, therefore all countries using this resource have to take on responsibility.

The forum is visited by delegations from 19 countries, including public institutions and businesses. The forum is one of the most prominent environment industry events within the Latvian Presidency in the European Union Council, and it is devoted to strengthening cooperation between the EU and Central Asia countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) within the field of environment technologies and solutions.

Minister of Environment Protection and Regional Development Kaspars Gerhards said that important decisions have to be taken in environment and climate areas this year.

It is expected that in autumn during the UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York a global agreement on sustainable development goals after 2015 will be confirmed, and in December during the Paris climate conference a new global agreement on limitation of climate changes after 2020 will be reached.

"I am certain that the Green Bridge Forum will give a significant contribution to strengthening cooperation between the EU, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, and everyone will gain from that," said Gerhards.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry's State Secretary Andrejs Pildegovics said: "This forum is unique, as it creates grounds for merging paths and interests of the European Union and Central Asia, as well as an opportunity for the politicians and decision makers to meet business people – developers of the cleantech solutions".