[Note: Two amendments to the Espoo Convention have been adopted by the Parties, but neither have come into force. The first amendment (Amend. 1) was adopted in Decision II/14 of the Meeting of the Parties, Report of the Second Meeting, UN Doc. ECE/MP.EIA/4, 7 August 2001. The second amendment (Amend. 2) was adopted in Decision III/7 of the Meeting of the Parties, Report of the Third Meeting, UN Doc. ECE/MP.EIA/6, 13 September 2004. The amended text is italicized.]

The Parties to this Convention,

Aware of the interrelationship between economic activities and their environmental consequences,

Affirming the need to ensure environmentally sound and sustainable development,

Determined to enhance international cooperation in assessing environmental impact in particular in a transboundary context,

Mindful of the need and importance to develop anticipatory policies and of preventing, mitigating and monitoring significant adverse environmental impact in general and more specifically in a transboundary context,

Recalling the relevant provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, the Declaration of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and the Concluding Documents of the Madrid and Vienna Meetings of Representatives of the Participating States of the CSCE,

Commending the ongoing activities of States to ensure that, through their national legal and administrative provisions and their national policies, environmental impact assessment is carried out,