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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are creating many challenges for official statistics. One of the most important ones is how to create and maintain the new types of strategic partnerships that are needed to provide statistics for the SDGs. Leaders from the world of official statistics…
Globally, more people live in urban areas than in rural areas, with 54 per cent of the world’s population residing in urban areas in 2014. In 1950, 30 per cent of the world’s population was urban, and by 2050, 66 per cent of the world’s population is projected to be urban. 73 per cent of the…
The “Phillips curve” is an economic model which suggests that decreasing unemployment in an economy corresponds to higher rates of wage rises.The above graph shows the so-called Phillips curve for selected UNECE member States between 2016 and 2017. The curve displays the annual change…
As transport technology progresses at breath-taking speed we tend to focus on how advanced and intelligent vehicles are getting. However, of equal importance is the infrastructure that they travel on and where new technology can be used to make these roads more secure, safe, efficient and…
Unlocking the potential of inland water transport can support sustainable transport systems and boost social and economic development. Inland waterways such as rivers, lakes and coastal routes can provide a sustainable complement to the shipping of goods by road and rail. Transport…
A circular economy is one that designs most pollution and waste out of the system, extracts maximum value from resources and allows natural capital to regenerate. This would not only protect the environment, but also contribute to economic growth, increasing GDP by up to 7% in the EU by 2030 -…
Water is a topic of cross-cutting significance for sustainable development and increasingly high on political, environmental and development agendas of countries around the world. As the majority of freshwater flows worldwide cross borders, ensuring effective cooperation for their sustainable…
Going beyond a national economy to access new markets is a challenge for any company. It requires time and investment as well as a good deal of knowledge in other markets. Even for large companies, this is a big step to take and can represent a significant financial risk. For Micro-, Small- and…
It is an absurd reality: women around the globe have been earning less than men for work of equal value for decades. On average, women in the UNECE region earn only 81.8 cents for every euro men make. This gender pay gap persists despite the recognition of the principle of equal remuneration. At…
Advancing progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 12 on sustainable consumption and production is pivotal to sustainable development. Consuming and producing more sustainably – doing more and better with less – contributes to socially and environmentally responsible development in multiple…
Air pollution is not only a regional issue, but it affects countries worldwide and emissions from one country can travel thousands of kilometers to impact local air quality in another country. To discuss remaining concerns, new challenges, including the global dimension of the air pollution…
Air pollution is by far the world’s largest single environmental health risk and cause of death by cancer, affecting populations in all regions of the globe.In Asia, air pollution is responsible for significant health impacts. As efforts increase to tackle this challenge, there is growing…
Green spaces in cities, including parks, gardens/vertical gardens or urban farms are emerging as key solutions to tackle urban sustainability challenges. Trees in cities serve as natural air conditioners, cooling the air by between two and eight degrees Celsius, whilst urban forests filter…
Climate change, the loss of biodiversity and air and water pollution are among global environmental challenges that affect everyone. Public rights to timely access to information, especially with regard to environmental impacts and hazards, and to inclusive public participation in environmental…
A circular economy is an economy that keeps pollution and waste out of the system, maintains products and materials in use, and regenerates natural resources. It promotes resource and energy efficiency, reduces food waste along the whole supply chain, builds sustainable infrastructure, and…
The most common indicator used to measure and compare economic performance is Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It looks at income, but says nothing about wealth and assets that underlie this income.For example, the exploitation of mineral resources increases GDP, but actually depletes the wealth of…
Each year, around 1.24 million people die in road accidents. A disproportionate amount of the deaths on the roads (90%) occurs in low- and middle-income countries, despite these countries accounting for just 54% of the world’s road vehicles. Most of these deaths are due to the lack of basic…
The fashion industry is responsible for producing twenty per cent of global wastewater and ten per cent of global carbon emissions – more than the emissions of all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Cotton farming is responsible for 24 per cent of insecticides and 11 per cent…
Trade can be a powerful engine of growth, creating new opportunities for investment, job creation and development. However, for some countries, efforts to capitalize on this potential are undermined by the lack of adequate regulatory frameworks, which can inflate transaction costs, limit export…
Kazakhstan has consolidated its national non-tariff measures (NTM) system according to the Multi-agency Support Team (MAST) classification system administered by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The database was validated yesterday during a national stakeholder…
How to communicate more effectively with policy makers and the public is an increasingly hot topic within the statistical community. Statistical organizations are facing growing competition from alternative data providers and the traditional ways of messaging are being challenged by the rise of…
How can the creation of more interconnected transport systems support progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals? How can we enable the seamless combination of different modes of transport for passengers and freight - be it bus to train or truck to boat – fostering transport that is…
No country in the Caucasus or Central Asia prior to 2016 had developed indicators to monitor progress towards sustainable forest management at the national level. Two years later, thanks to a United Nations Development Account (UNDA) project implemented jointly by UNECE and FAO, five countries…
Senegal shares most of its water resources with other countries. The major part of its surface water reserves are located in the Senegal and Gambia River basins whose waters come from the Fouta Djallon Highlands in the Republic of Guinea. Cooperating on these shared waters is therefore essential…
The environmental rationale for protecting forests is well known. The benefits provided by forests, such as water and air purification, soil formation, carbon storage and biodiversity conservation are widely acknowledged. It is, however, less known that forest products also play an important…