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Effective public access to environmental information is critical for promoting a green and circular economy, increased biosafety and community resilience. The need to further such access using modern digital technologies has been increasingly voiced across countries in the light of the coronavirus…
Knowing where exactly air pollutant emissions are coming from in a given country is important to make viable policy decisions. As a result of integrated air pollution management strategies developed under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention…
Consumers are increasingly interested in making more environmentally and ethically aware choices when it comes to the clothes and shoes they wear, according to a series of recent studies. But the sector is awash with complex language and misleading labelling that makes it difficult for consumers to…
A vision for transboundary cooperation around the Senegal-Mauritanian Aquifer Basin (SMAB) has been developed by representatives of the States that share this aquifer system, namely The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania and Senegal.  This work was carried out in the second meeting of the…
Morocco has requested UNECE to review its environmental performance for a second time. To provide the groundwork for the review, a team of UNECE and international experts will participate in a country hybrid mission from December 2020 to February 2021, first meeting national experts by virtual…
An estimated one billion people worldwide live with disabilities. In the European Union, one person in seven among the working age population reports a difficulty with a basic activity – such as walking, seeing or hearing, lifting or carrying, sitting or standing, and remembering and concentrating…
New guidance published by UNECE’s Conference of European Statisticians offers support to national statistical offices to better communicate their statistics about gender equality. The guidance, developed by a task force of experts from across the region, focuses on six themes: the gender pay gap;…
The current patterns of raw material consumption are unstainable and are becoming an existential threat to the planet.  The United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC) offers a solution to support a total transformation towards a sustainable resource management future. To support…
Technologies can play a key role in the transition from a linear towards circular economy. Circular strategies represent key investments to shape trade and logistics that are more resilient, resource-efficient and cost-effective, supporting the Sustainable Development Goals. However, the risk…
The economic downturn due to COVID-19 will hit the countries of the UN Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) – Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – hard and exacerbate existing vulnerabilities. As a region highly reliant on…
Under the targets of the Paris climate agreement, our region must capture at least 90Gt of carbon dioxide by 2050. To limit global temperature rises to 2⁰C, UNECE’s experts on cleaner electricity urged the region to deploy carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) technologies at scale and without…
A new project, bringing together three UN statistical offices, is helping countries to produce and use new statistics to measure the connections between gender and trade.Trade in goods and services is the engine of economic activity, and measuring this trade has for a long time been a cornerstone…
How to enhance economic connectivity in order to make Euro-Asian inland transport links (EATL) operational and commercially more attractive? These were the key questions discussed in the virtual consultations held by UNECE and the OSCE on 26 November.The event brought together over 140 delegates…
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused wide-ranging effects on human health, security and economic activity, which have significantly impacted industrial safety. The eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to UNECE’s Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents (Industrial…
Countries in the pan-European region will continue to benefit from the recommendations of environmental performance reviews (EPRs) beyond 2022, following the adoption of the fourth cycle of EPRs by UNECE’s Committee on Environmental Policy at its 26th session, held on 9 and 10 November.   In his…
We stand at a critical moment. More than ever, the great challenges we face – like COVID-19, the climate crisis, unsustainable resource use, and inequalities – cannot be faced by one country alone. The 75th anniversary of the United Nations is the time to reflect on how we can best work together to…
The Consumer Price Index Manual, developed by an Intersecretariat Working Group including UNECE, assists countries in producing indices that follow international standardsOn behalf of the Intersecretariat Working Group on Price Statistics, of which UNECE is a member, IMF has released the Consumer…
While the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the extent to which water, sanitation and hygiene are key to human health through frequent handwashing, in the UNECE region over 16 million people still lack access to drinking water and more than 31 million are currently living without basic sanitation…
The risk that advances in digital technology benefit those who are already online and could contribute to greater inequality within and among countries needs to be addressed by effective policies, leaving no one behind.    The United Nations system is engaged to help address these challenges.…
To avoid damage to the environment, public health and the economy, adopting targets to reduce emissions and introducing measures to enforce them is essential. Providing a framework to facilitate these measures, UNECE assists countries in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia in…
The European Green Deal is a new growth strategy aiming to transform the European Union into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy. The European Green Deal has a number of overarching objectives, including for the European Union to reach net-zero GHG emissions by 2050; promotion of a…
Policy solutions to abate air pollutant emissions need to be targeted to the main emission sources in a given country. To know where exactly the emissions are coming from is therefore the first step in designing a viable air quality management system. The UNECE Convention on Long-range…
The Western Balkans and Moldova are moving to modernize their trade and Customs procedures and roll out standardized trade data sharing and Single Window for export and import clearance. Building on years of capacity-building and technical cooperation efforts by UNECE, the World Bank, the CEFTA…
Forests host an estimated 80 percent of all terrestrial species of animals, plants and insects. The diverse species which inhabit vast forest landscapes play a key role in keeping forest ecosystems healthy and productive. Globally, biodiversity loss is taking its toll on the world’s forests: when…
The COVID-19 pandemic stopped trade routes, disrupted supply chains, and impacted international trade globally. Kyrgyzstan is no exception. According to its Ministry of Economy, Kyrgyzstan’s international trade decreased by more than 22% in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in…