The 20th session of the UN ECE Committee on Environmental Policy (CEP-20) took place in Geneva (Palais des Nations, salle VII) from 28 to 31 October 2014. Meeting documents are made available on this webpage.

The CEP Bureau met in Lisbon on 26 and 27 May 2014 and worked on preparing CEP-20. An advance copy of the Bureau's report is available in the table below (see document ECE/CEP/2014/3). UNECE Weekly No. 580 includes an article on the main outcomes of the Bureau meeting.

On the margins of the CEP meeting, on Monday, 27 October 2014, UNEP/ROE organised the first Eastern European Regional meeting on the 10 Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production as a contribution to the Environment for Europe process. The event outcomes was presented during the CEP-20 agenda item on greening economy on Wednesday, 29 October 2014. Furthermore, during the lunch time on Tuesday, 28 October 2014, following an invitation by the CEP Bureau, UNEP organised a side event on the activities of UNEP in the pan-European region, in particular in the follow up of the First Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly of UNEP (Nairobi, 23-27 June 2014). More information about these two events is included in the table below (in the side-events section).

UNECE launches the Astana Water Action web portal

UNECE has just launched a web portal to improve water management, to share knowledge about the state of water resources and to track progress in ensuring the sustainability of water resources across the UNECE region. The portal is the virtual face of the Astana Water Action (AWA), a toolkit of suggested actions to improve the status of water and water-related ecosystems through their sustainable management, through which States and organizations commit to improving their water resources by undertaking concrete actions. Developed under the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes and the Committee on Environmental Policy, and originally launched in 2011 as part of the Environment for Europe process, AWA is a joint endeavour of countries and international and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In particular, it seeks to assist Governments in better managing their water resources according to the local, national and regional challenges they face through the implementation of actions tailored to their specificities. The AWA portal allows visitors to explore the 78 individual actions registered so far by 25 countries, NGOs and international organizations and to monitor progress (15 completed, 47 in progress). In an October 2013 review of the initiative, the Committee on Environmental Policy appreciated the overall progress achieved in implementing AWA so far by participating countries and organizations. The next assessment of AWA implementation will be carried out in 2015/16.