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Active Ageing is by now a widely known and well-established concept referring to a situation where we continue to participate in the labour market, engage in unpaid productive activities such as care provision to family members and volunteering and live healthy, independent and secure lives as we…
The need to ensure equitable access to water and sanitation is getting more and more visibility in global, regional and national agendas. The Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation were recognized in 2010. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly under Sustainable…
Semi-automated driving functionalities are becoming increasingly popular. On 17 September, UNECE hosted a demonstration of vehicles’ automated parking systems in the park of the Palais des Nations. Participants witnessed how the Remote Control Parking (RCP) system allows drivers to get out of…
Did you know that air pollutants come from numerous human activities, such as transport, agriculture, and industry? But even when we repaint our house, have our clothes dry-cleaned or when we make a charcoal barbecue, air pollutants are released. Knowing where exactly air pollutant emissions are…
It is recognized that raw materials and energy are the backbones for sustainable development. In a world facing multiple social, climatic and environmental challenges, managing the supply of mineral and energy resources is becoming more and more complex. In this context, investors increasingly…
Statistics are often used in the media “as a drunken man uses lamp posts—for support rather than illumination”.Martin Nicholls, head of strategic communication at the UK’s Office for National Statistics quoted the novelist Andrew Lang as he called on producers of gender statistics to guide their…
The ready-made garment industry continues to accelerate its pace. Its growth is estimated at a 2% annual rate, according to the Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), while clothing utilisation has decreased by 36% in the last 15 years, meaning more clothes are being produced and then disposed of after a…
Unemployment rates generally fell in 2017 compared to the previous year in the UNECE member countries. In many countries, unemployment has come down close to the level before the global financial crisis in 2007-2009, but not in all.In eight countries - Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland,…
Improving transboundary water cooperation across the world requires constant dialogue and discussions between countries to exchange good practices, lessons learned and progress achieved. In this regard, on 28-30 May, the second joint meeting of the Working Group on Monitoring and Assessment and…
The Port Community System (PCS) in Odessa, Ukraine, is a success story for trade facilitation. The PCS system, launched after UNECE capacity-building seminars in Kiev in 2010 and Odessa in 2011, is up and running and today inspires broader work on trade facilitation in the country thanks to its…
Knowing where air pollutant emissions are coming from is important to make viable policy decisions. While air quality in the UNECE region has improved over the past few decades as a result of integrated air pollution management strategies developed under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary…
Ever heard of nitrogen pollution as one of the major problems of our times? The answer is probably no. While everyone knows about climate change and carbon footprints, few people are aware of nitrogen pollution, the nitrogen cycle and the impacts of its imbalance.Indeed, nitrogen pollution…
Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked transition economy, like other Central Asian countries. According to the World Bank’s 2018 Doing Business report, the cost for documentary, domestic transport and border formalities for one export shipment is USD 590. Reductions in time and cost can contribute to…
Efficient production and supply of energy and raw material resources are vital to attaining the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Making resource development activities sustainable has emerged as a critical challenge. While the performance of…
Many women-owned small businesses in Kyrgyzstan specialize in traditional crafts and ensure that know-how that has been passed on for generations – in particular in the textile and clothing industry – continues to be enjoyed by locals, tourists, and offered on international markets.For women…
In April 2018, the Eurasian Economic Commission adopted a decision requesting its members to use a risk-based approach for enforcement activities. Efforts towards effective risk management are particularly important in a country like Kyrgyzstan. The 2017 World Risk Report ranks Kyrgyzstan as 51st…
Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of the ground-breaking International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994, and of its Programme of Action. In preparation for this anniversary, the UNECE Regional Conference on Enabling Choices: Population Dynamics and…
Who would have thought that heating with wood, a renewable fuel, is not as sustainable as we all thought? Whether heating with wood is a necessity, an alternative to another heating system or just a nice extra to create a cosy atmosphere in our homes, the consequences are the same: smoke that is…
Improving energy efficiency can bring multiple economic, social and environmental benefits and is widely viewed as one of the most effective ways to accelerate progress towards the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. Investments in energy efficiency…
Severe accidents remind us time and time again of the need to invest in their prevention, and to mitigate their consequences, which can be far-reaching and transboundary. The cyanide spill in Baia Mare, Romania in 2000 demonstrated the devastating effects that an accident at a mining company can…
E-commerce has become a game changer in the international trade arena. Cross-border e-commerce is estimated to reach 1 trillion US dollars in 2020; for the top 10 e-commerce markets, it accounts for 34% of the gross domestic product.Cross-border e-commerce trade has flourished in China in recent…
A critical challenge to overcome in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is the lack of women - top to bottom - in business: this is well documented (according to a FTSE 100 report on UK public companies, the number of male CEOs named ‘David’ is larger than the number of women CEOs…
In the UNECE region, buildings are responsible for approximately one third of total energy consumption and account for almost 40 percent of CO2 emissions from combustion. Standards are an effective instrument for addressing energy efficiency in buildings and supporting the achievements of the…
West Africa is rich in transboundary waters with 25 transboundary river basins. The Comoé, Bia and Tanoé river basins are among the main basins that have so far not had a joint management mechanism. The combination of higher water demand from population growth as well as the projected new water…
Can low-cost sensors help us gather more data from many more locations, rendering air pollution monitoring more precise and inexpensive at the same time? Can they help us determine our own exposure to bad air quality? A lot of questions have arisen around the topic of low-cost air quality sensors…