The Sixth Ministerial conference “Environment for Europe” convened for its second day on Thursday, 11 October 2007, in Belgrade, Serbia. Prior to the morning session, ministers attended a tree-planting ceremony in Friendship Park, New Belgrade. In the morning plenary, delegates addressed capacity building and considered progress and perspectives in implementation of the environment strategy for the countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia. Constantin Mihailescu, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Moldova, chaired the early morning session, and keynote addresses were delivered by the Co-chairs of the Task Force for the Implementation of the Environmental Action Programme for Central and Eastern Europe. Delegates also heard presentations on the Central Asia Initiative for Sustainable Development and South-East European perspectives in a late morning session chaired by Saŝa Dragin, Minister of Environmental Protection, Serbia.

During the afternoon plenary, delegates considered the issue of partnerships. On the topic “Environmental Policy and International Competitiveness: can we afford a better environment?,” Marek Bleka, Executive Secretary, UNECE, presented key findings regarding a report on challenges for low-income countries in the UNECE region. Delegates then turned their attention to environmental finance and partnerships to support the implementation of environmental policies and programmes in a session chaired by Marta Bonifert, Executive Director, REC-CEE. Brigita Schmögnerová, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), delivered the keynote address and advocated for public/private partnerships and structured funding. In the late afternoon Bonifert convened a roundtable on partnerships and delegates heard presentations by representatives from governments, civil society, business, international organizations and NGOs.