Expert Group

Chair

Mr. Harry Liiv (Estonia)

Mr. Harry Liiv is currently as Special Envoy for Transboundary Waters at the Ministry of Climate of Estonia. He is acting as Chair of the Bureau of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes and head of Estonian delegation to UNECE Committee of Environmental Policy (CEP). In 2000-2021 he, as Deputy Secretary General, was responsible to manage and coordinate water management and marine environmental issues, but also ambient air, waste management and radiation protection matters at governmental level, He was the HELCOM Chairman in 2014-2016. Prior those assignments, he was the Director General of Environmental Department at the Ministry of the Environment of Estonia. As the Director, he was among others responsible for managing and coordination of water management, air control and waste management issues at the government level, for multilateral cooperation with various countries and IFIs.

Members:

Ms. Mariam Makarova (Georgia)

Ms. Mariam Makarova is the Deputy Head of the Water Resources Management Service of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia. Ms. Makarova has more than 25 years’ experience in the field of water resources management and protection. She specializes in water legislation, regulation and assessment of water abstraction and wastewater discharge, development of the transboundary cooperation in the field of water resources management. 

Mr. Hans-Joachim Hermann (Germany)

Mr. Hans-Joachim Hermann is the Acting Head of the Unit International Environment and Sustainability Strategies, Policy and Knowledge Transfer at the German Environment Agency. He is a political scientist and has extensive experience in international environmental governance, sustainable development and Central and Eastern European affairs. He is a member of the OECD Working Party on Integrating Environmental and Economic Policies, the General Assembly of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe and the Advisory Group on Environment and Sport to the German Federal Ministry for the Environment. ​

Ms. Alessandra Fidanza (Italy)

EU and international Environmental Expert, Alessandra Fidanza has a background as Architect and Urban Planner, specialized in environmental affairs, with a major focus on climate change, environmental assessment (EIA/SEA), energy efficiency, sustainable housing/planning. She was member of the UN-Habitat Panel of international experts who worked on the elaboration of the New Urban Agenda, presented in Quito during the HabitatIII Conference in 2016. Currently, she is appointed by Sogesid Spa as senior Expert on International Cooperation and multilateral institutions, including banks and finance, technology transfer for the Italian Ministry of Environment Land and Sea (IMELS). In the past, she was Member of the Climate Change Negotiation Unit (at UNFCCC level) of the Italian Ministry of the Environment, being also part of the EU Expert Group on Adaptation. She took also part to the activities of UN-ECE Housing Land Management (HLM) in Geneva, and she was the Italian Member of the ECE Expert Network for Energy Efficiency of the UNECE HLM. Former lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning of the Universities of Berlin (Technische Universität) and Rome (La Sapienza), she is a full member of the Italian Institute of Urban Planning (INU), where she grounded and led from 2003 to 2013 the Italian National Group on Environmental Assessment. She is often invited to take part, as speaker, to scientific and cultural events on environmental issues.

Ms. Olivera Kujundžić (Montenegro)

Ms. Olivera Kujundžić is advisor in the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, in charge for air quality legislation and policy, appointed as National Focal Point for the Convention on Long-Transboundary Air Pollution of Montenegro, Coordinator for Air Quality in the National Team for negotiation of accession to EU for Chapter 27 – Environment and Climate change. Previously, she was engaged by Italian Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea as a legal expert in long-term bilateral programme of cooperation between Italy and Western Balkan countries as a member of Environmental Legal Team of the University of Siena. She worked with various international environmental organizations and projects such as Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), BioREGIO Carpathians, UNEP, UNDP, UNIDO, UNECE, etc. in various environmental topics (including nature protection, water and waste management, protection from environmental noise) but with special focus on air quality and climate change.

Ms. Teodora O. Grncharovska (North Macedonia)

Ms. Teodora O. Grncharovska is State Counsellor on Climate Change in the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning. She has over 25 years of professional experience in environmental and climate change policy-making and governance. She specializes in developing scientifically-based policies in a transparent and inclusive manner, aligned with appropriate absorption capacities. Her expertise lies in setting priorities through evidence-based policy-making, contributing to low-carbon and resilient development. Ms. Grncharovska has extensive international, regional, and national experience in proposing, coordinating, managing, revising, and supervising the development of over 20 policy and planning documents, particularly in climate action, decarbonization, and sustainable development. She is highly experienced in aligning EU climate acquis requirements with national legal systems. Additionally, she has significant experience in bilateral and multilateral negotiations and cooperation with bilateral donors and international financing institutions. Ms. Grncharovska has published more than 20 scientific articles in her field.

Ms. Diana Achimescu (Romania)

Ms. Diana Achimescu is currently a senior adviser in the Department for Sustainable Development (DSD), established within the Prime Minister’s Office. She joint DSD in 2019, dealing constantly with sustainable development issues. Since 2021 she was appointed as National Focal Point for the Global Analysis and Assessment Of Sanitation And Drinking-Water (GLAAS), a UN-Water initiative implemented by WHO. In 2011, she joined the Ministry of Environment as adviser for European Affairs where she worked until 2019. In this period, she acted as the National Coordinator for the Second EPR of Romania (2011-2012), National Focal Point for Education for Sustainable Development, National Focal Point for “Environment and Health” process in relation to UNECE and WHO. She was part of the drafting process of Romania’s first VNR in 2018.

As part of DSD, she has also contributed to Romania Third EPR (2021).Before joining the Ministry on Environment, she was coordinating the Research and Training in European Affairs Unit of the European Institute of Romania. She is holding a Master of Science degree (Chemical Engineering), University of Amsterdam and a Bachelor Degree in Chemistry, Bucharest University. She acted as National focal Point for Education. 

Mr. Xavier Tschumi Canosa (Switzerland)

Mr. Xavier Tschumi Canosa is senior policy advisor at the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) since May 2008. Economist with a specialization in development studies (University of Geneva), he began as a member of the delegation of Switzerland in the multilateral climate negotiations (UNFCCC) then moving, within the international affairs division of FOEN, towards duties related to bilateral relations, trade and environmental policies. In this position, he follows the UNECE EPR expert group sessions as well as the meetings of the OECD working party on environmental performance. He is also in charge of the environmental dimension of trade negotiations (WTO and FTAs), for FOEN. He coordinates furthermore the contribution of FOEN to relevant bilateral expert or high-level meetings between Switzerland and partner countries.

Ms. Khaniya Asilbekova (Uzbekistan)

Ms. Khaniya Asilbekova is the Head of Information and Analytical Department at the Center for Specialized Analytical Control under the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of Uzbekistan. With over 20 years of extensive experience in the environmental sector, she specializes in waste and chemical management, environmental education, and awareness-raising initiatives. Ms. Asilbekova holds a PhD in Chemistry, focusing on analytical chemistry, chemicals, and waste management. From 2009 to 2017, Ms. Asilbekova coordinated the activities of the Scientific and Technical Council of the Environmental Organization of Uzbekistan and played a key role in introducing Education for Sustainable Development in Uzbekistan. In 2009, she served as Deputy Chairman of the International Organization for Ecology and Health “ECOSAN.” Recently, she led the national team in preparing the National Report on the State of the Environment of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in collaboration with UNEP, UNECE, and FAO. Ms. Asilbekova has contributed to various international projects, including “Developing an Integrated National Programme and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management Implementation in Uzbekistan” and “Supporting the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management and GHS Implementation in Uzbekistan” (UNITAR). Currently, she is a leading expert in UNEP’s Special Program project on “Strengthening the Institutional Capacity of Uzbekistan in the Implementation of the Basel and Stockholm Conventions and Facilitating Accession to the Rotterdam and Minamata Conventions,” as well as the FAO-EU project “Technical Assistance for Sound Management of Hazardous Chemicals in Uzbekistan.”