News

Presenting the latest in hazard and risk assessments, the ICPDR Technical Report on Accidental Pollution Hazards provides an in-depth analysis of accidental pollution. It highlights updated inventories for Accident Hazard Sites (AHS) and Tailings Management Facilities (TMF), employing advanced methodologies like the Water Hazard Index and Tailings Risk Index. Focusing on the most hazardous sites, the report also offers key recommendations for sustainable pollution prevention

The ICPDR has published an informative summary report on accident prevention and control for dissemination to the interested public. It highlights the ICPDR activities on basin-wide level for accident prevention and emergency management, focusing on the tools, pragmatic procedures and mechanisms that are available for the ICPDR member countries.

Improving the safety of Tailings Management Facilities (TMFs) throughout the Danube River Basin is a key issue for the ICPDR, and we've now published a paper of policy recommendations.

Since March 2019, the ICPDR, in cooperation with the Babes-Bolyai University and the non-governmental organisation, “Sustainable Development Platform”, has been implementing a new project: “Capacity development to improve safety conditions of tailings management facilities in the Danube River Basin – Phase I: North-Eastern Danube countries”.

On Thursday, 8 February 2018 in Munich (Germany), The Pure Water for Generations-film project of Pascal Rösler, a SUP-Paddler ICPDR friend and water advocate, was met with a resounding positive response from the audience at the premiere. Among the attendees were, Ulrike Scharf, Minister of the Environment and ICPDR Executive Secretary Ivan Zavadksy.

In the framework of the joint EU and UNDP project -“Improving Environmental Monitoring in the Black Sea – Phase II” (EMBLAS) new opportunities for public monitoring of the Black Sea coastal status using so called “ecological sentinels” are developed.

Istanbul, 21 April 2012. The Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution (Bucharest Convention) celebrated its 20th Anniversary. Since the signing in Bucharest, the Convention has become a powerful instrument of International Environmental Law in the Black Sea Basin.

Istanbul, 12 April 2012. At a meeting on 12 April 2012, representatives of the ICPDR and the International Black Sea Protection Commission expressed their understanding of joint responsibility for the management of water. As the main tributary to the Black Sea, the water quality of the Danube is directly linked to sensitive environment of the Black Sea.

Kolontár, 4 October 2010. A dam at a Hungarian aluminium factory near Kolontár broke. Approximately 1.5 million cubic metres of alkaline red sludge and water were released with disastrous consequences: 10 people died, hundreds of hectares of agricultural land were contaminated. One year after these events, we collected information on the current environmental conditions in the area. As an ongoing effort, the Accident Prevention and Control Expert Group of the ICPDR continues its work to avoid or mitigate such disasters in the future.

Ajka, 15 November 2011. The redsludge accident of October 4 has generated a world-wide interest in the area of Ajka in Western Hungary. Since then, media attention has ceased. This article aims to provide an English summary of the measures that were taken to manage the accident since October 20.