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The Eighth Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference will gather Ministers and high-level representatives of UNECE’s 56 member countries in Batumi, Georgia, from 8-10 June 2016.  The main themes of the Conference will be: Greening the economy. This approach, which fosters a healthy…
A decade of efforts by UNECE and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to support countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia to modernize the management of their water resources have paid off. Successes include the adoption of a water sector reform…
About half of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have a direct focus on the environment and there is at least one target on environmental sustainability in each SDG. How the environmental community will work to achieve the SDGs will be the overarching theme of the second session of the…
The development plans in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia, the countries that share the Drina Basin, need to be assessed for their impact on the ecosystems but also across sectors, in particular energy, agriculture and water management. These plans include some 20 new hydropower…
Institutional reform in the water sector in Armenia will reach a new milestone in 2017 with the enactment of provisions on drinking water. As a result, a single water service operator will be chosen to supply drinking water for the entire country, instead of the five separate companies operating…
While emissions of key air pollutants have been reduced considerably over the past few decades as a result of integrated air pollution management strategies developed under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention), progress has been uneven across the UNECE region…
Experts from UNECE member States and the secretariat will be visiting Bulgaria from 11 to 21 April 2016 for a field mission in the framework of the third environmental performance review (EPR) of the country. The team will meet governmental officials and representatives of international…
Europeans currently eat large amounts of meat, dairy products and eggs, exceeding health recommendations for the consumption of saturated fat and red meat. In addition, livestock production in the EU is the driver of around 80% of the losses of nitrogen from agriculture. The nitrogen that is…
Cycling is a green and healthy mode of transport, since it has the potential to significantly improve health and reduce mortality due to inactivity and to reduce local air pollution caused by motorised traffic. Overall, it is a great way to connect people with their urban environment and to take…
In Central Africa, most watercourses cross borders. There are 16 transboundary rivers, lakes or aquifers, among them the mighty Congo River — the second largest river in the world in terms of water flow after the Amazon. However, these shared rivers also bring a risk of conflict. For this reason…
The preparation of the 2016 assessment report highlighting the main achievements of and remaining challenges facing the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution is nearing its final stages. The report summarizes current scientific knowledge on transboundary air pollution issues…
Air pollution is damaging ecosystems and has adverse effects on crops. In order to improve the understanding of these impacts, and notably that of ground-level ozone pollution on crops and other vegetation, the International Cooperative Programme on Effects of Air Pollution on Natural Vegetation…
Empowering people to participate in decisions that can affect their environment and health is of key importance to UNECE. To this end, the present publication consists of two separate, but closely linked sets of recommendations: (i) Maastricht Recommendations on Promoting Effective Public…
Effective public participation is the key precondition for transparent and accountable governance. It helps Governments to tackle inequality by ensuring that all persons, including those from the poorest segments of society and rural communities, are able to participate in decisions that impact…
Air pollution has a wide variety of impacts, affecting human health, ecosystems and climate, both near the source and far away. Over the past 10 years the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution has worked with an…
Greening the economy, an approach to foster a healthy economy while ensuring environmental sustainability and social equity, is considered as one of the most promising ways to achieve sustainable development. Air pollution, which causes 7 million deaths per year worldwide and 600,000 premature…
Iraq confirmed its intention to accede to the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) this year. After announcing its interest in joining the Convention in 2012, in 2013 Iraq established a national committee to study the…
Up-to-date, accurate and easy-to-find environmental information empowers public officials, entrepreneurs, workers, consumers and each of us to take informed decisions that impact our environment and well-being. Information is also key for fostering transparent governance, innovation and greening…
Kazakhstan is heavily dependent on water in rivers shared with other countries, in most cases as the downstream neighbour in basins shared with China, the Russian Federation and other Central Asian States. Given that climate change is expected to lead to decreased access to water for Kazakhstan…
Sweden has become the first Party to accept the 2012 amendments to the 1999 Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone (Gothenburg Protocol) under the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention). The Gothenburg Protocol deals with…
Every day there are hazardous chemical substances released into the environment from industrial or agricultural sites that can affect our daily lives. Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs) help to effectively record these pollutants and make this information accessible to the public…
Policies to reduce air pollution and the promotion of sustainable transport have helped to significantly improve air quality in Europe. However, experts participating in the Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP) Symposium in Geneva stressed that more needs to be done…
With almost one third of the world’s population living in internationally shared basins and two thirds of global freshwater being supplied by these areas, transboundary water cooperation is crucial to ensure sustainable development. Nearly 350 participants from more than 70 countries will gather…
Experts from UNECE member States and the secretariat will be visiting Tajikistan from 9 to 18 November for a field mission in the framework of the third environmental performance review (EPR) of the country. The team will meet governmental officials and representatives of international…
Close cooperation of environment, transport and energy authorities in developing and implementing effective policies can significantly lower emissions of air pollutants leading to improved air quality with resulting benefits for the environment and human health. And such intersectoral cooperation…