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Moving to a more circular economy is increasingly recognized as vital to sustainable development, decarbonization, resource efficiency and competitiveness. More and more countries are adopting national policies that are directly or indirectly related to the sustainable management of natural
The 2024 UNECE Regional Forum on Sustainable Development brought together over 800 participants to generate momentum for a regional push for SDG acceleration. Governments and other stakeholders exchanged and learned from each other on effective policies for speeding up progress towards SDG
Today, a new project to be implemented by UNECE with the support of Switzerland was launched in Tashkent, underscoring Uzbekistan's commitment to improving water and health governance and safe management of industrial and tailing facilities.   Uzbekistan, the most populous Central Asian country,
More than 280 member state representatives, partners and stakeholders met on 11 March in Geneva for the Regional Review of efforts to implement the guiding principles and 23 objectives of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) in the United Nations Economic Commission for
Faced with increasing impacts of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, which together constitute the “triple planetary crisis”, no country can act alone. Like nature itself, these challenges know no borders, which makes international cooperation a crucial part of action to address them
The United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt, will visit Côte d'Ivoire (29 February - 3 March 2024) to support national authorities' road safety initiatives. In particular, the Special Envoy will launch the United Nations Global Campaign for Road Safety, in
On 28 February 2024, the UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Aarhus Convention, Michel Forst, released a position paper on state repression of environmental protest and civil disobedience: a major threat to human rights and democracy. The position paper provides an overview
UN member States took a decisive step towards sustainable low carbon mobility with the adoption on 23 February of the Inland Transport Committee’s (ITC) Strategy on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Inland Transport.  Transport accounts for some 23% of annual GHG emissions. Inland transport
Every year approximately 1.19 million people die, and 50 million people are left with life-altering injuries. The urgency is clear: road crashes are not just statistics; they are a global epidemic affecting children, young adults, and communities at large. If current trends continue, road crashes
Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) will be at the forefront of discussions at the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) on how to tackle the triple planetary crisis.  Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean will lead a UNECE delegation to UNEA-6, the world’s
Efforts to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 are facing strong headwinds from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, shocks arising from climate change and the war against Ukraine, high interest rates and still-elevated inflation.   New data available for this year’s report on
In her first visit to Brussels as UNECE Executive Secretary, Tatiana Molcean held strategic discussions this week with European Commissioners for environment and energy, and high-level officials responsible for industrial policy, trade and cooperation with EU acceding, candidate and neighbouring
Special Envoy Jean Todt is visiting Timor-Leste from 7 until 10 February, to meet H.E President José Manuel Ramos-Horta, ministers and representatives of the public and private sector, and civil society, to advocate for the effective implementation of the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for
Following the adoption last year of a methodology to measure the emissions from braking systems, UNECE’s World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) now turns to tackling emissions from tyres.    Made from a mixture of natural and synthetic rubber and plastic polymers, including
UNECE’s Working Party on Automated/Autonomous and Connected Vehicles has adopted the draft of a new regulation that defines provisions for the approval of vehicles with Driver Control Assistance Systems (DCAS) and provides minimum safety requirements for vehicles equipped with the Advanced Driver
Uzbekistan has joined to the UNECE-WHO/Europe Protocol on Water and Health, thereby becoming its 29th Party and the first country in Central Asia to join this treaty. Accession to the Protocol is expected to serve as a catalyst to further drive and streamline national action on water, sanitation,
Batteries fitted to electric vans will be required to be of high quality and durable over the years thanks to a proposal agreed today by UNECE’s Working Party on Pollution and Energy (GRPE).   The proposal will now be submitted to the UNECE-hosted World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle
Today, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan signed a joint statement on the approval of the Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the Chu and Talas river basins aimed at effective transboundary cooperation in the context of climate change to ensure health, security and economic well-being for the 3 million
Nitrogen, which is vital for plant growth, is present in animal excreta and synthetic fertilisers that are applied to land to boost crop production. But excessive and inefficient use of this nutrient means up to 80% of it leaks into the environment, mostly in various polluting forms of nitrogen:
Gathering in Geneva for the Meetings of the Parties to the UNECE Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention) and the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), Ministers and high-level government officials emphasized the crucial importance
Due to their geographical location, the world’s 32 Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) are facing common problems that negatively affect their economic engagement with the rest of the world. Long distances from the nearest seaports, inadequate transport and transit systems multiple border
Parties to the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention) have agreed to work to revise the Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-Level Ozone (Gothenburg Protocol), which is expected to further strengthen efforts to reduce air pollution in
Climate change is a major stress factor for the world’s water resources, heightening risks of conflict in shared basins, threatening health and undermining sustainable development.   During high-level discussions held at COP28 on the thematic days on Peace, Security, and Health and on Agriculture
Cities are a major driver of climate change, responsible for an estimated 75% of all carbon dioxide emissions globally. With two thirds of humanity projected to live in cities by 2050, cities are at the center of climate action. We need solutions to reduce urban greenhouse gas emissions and develop
The global transport sector has the highest reliance on fossil fuels of any sector. In 2021 it accounted for almost one fourth of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The road transport sector, including passenger cars, buses, heavy and light duty commercial vehicles, is the major GHG contributor