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UNECE is highlighting the importance of improving industrial safety on International Day for Disaster Reduction (13 October) – a day designated by the United Nations General Assembly to draw attention to the urgent need to reduce humanitarian, social, economic and environmental risks of natural…
Hydrology and environment specialists from Afghanistan and Tajikistan are conducting a hands-on study this week to identify and discuss issues related to the efficient use of water resources, land use, irrigation practices and biodiversity in the upper Amudarya basin. Particular attention will…
Green economy fosters economic progress while ensuring environmental sustainability and social equity. The OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum, which concluded on 8 September, also recognized the value of green economy as part of the OSCE approach to security and cooperation in Europe.In her…
Long before negotiations on the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution started in the late seventies, countries in Europe established scientific cooperation across borders to tackle the problem of air pollution, acid rain, and die-back of forests. In particular, it was the…
Ambition turns into practice in BudvaThe transformation of our world starts today. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and environmental democracy are at the centre of the Meetings of the Parties to the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making…
Transboundary cooperation in climate change adaptation is crucial in preventing mal-adaptation and in making adaptation in shared basins more effective. However, many climate funds do not yet consider applications for joint interventions in transboundary basins. River basin organizations have an…
UNECE is working closely with the six countries of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine – to promote the use of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Updates on…
Recent studies have shown that emissions from agriculture are a major cause of mortality from air pollution in Europe. While agriculture does not immediately come to mind when thinking about sources of air pollutants, agricultural emissions, namely ammonia or NH3, are the single largest…
From 25 to 27 April 2017, representatives from key authorities and stakeholders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan along with experts from the Russian Federation met to discuss issues related to dam safety in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, as part of…
Our health and well-being is contingent on the quality of air we breathe, the water we drink and the ground we live on. Environmental causes are responsible for 22% of all deaths worldwide each year: for 17% of all cancers, 25% of strokes and 44% of asthma cases. According to a report published…
The Eighth Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference (Batumi, Georgia, 8–10 June 2016) addressed education for sustainable development (ESD) issues at the highest regional level, with UNECE ministers in Batumi recognizing education for sustainable development as a cross-cutting theme that…
Chad expressed its intention to accede as soon as possible to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention), serviced by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). This is the main outcome of the national…
Effective transboundary cooperation is crucial to address the frequent floods and droughts in the Dniester River basin, shared by the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. Such cooperation will become even more important in the future, as climate change is expected to affect the volume and seasonal…
Experts from UNECE member States and the secretariat will be visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina from 27 March to 6 April 2017 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…
In Kyiv, a high-level multi-stakeholder meeting on 28 March 2017 marked the restart of the UNECE-assisted water policy process after a six-year pause. Some 50 participants from key stakeholder organizations attended the meeting of the newly formed National Policy Dialogue (NPD) Steering…
Increasing demands for land and other natural resources, construction of environmentally hazardous installations and industrial accidents put people exercising their rights and seeking justice at the new frontline in the battle for the sustainability of their communities and the future of their…
As recently highlighted in the news from the United States on the Oroville dam and its damaged spillway, the safety of dams is a major issue worldwide. For quite some time UNECE has been engaged in Central Asia to develop capacity and policy with regard to dam safety. A project funded by the…
While there is increasing awareness about the health effects of air pollution, its impact on ecosystems and crops is sometimes overlooked. Recent air pollution peaks in Warsaw, Krakow and other cities in Poland and other parts of Europe also have significant effects on plant life. This, in turn…
Six months after UNECE ministers from 44 countries renewed their commitments on a number of environmental issues in the region (Batumi, Georgia, 8-10 June 2016), delegates at the 22nd session of the UNECE Committee on Environmental Policy (CEP) discussed progress in the implementation of those…
How to make the most of the recommendations contained in UNECE Environmental Performance Reviews (EPRs)? How to involve the public in decisions affecting the environment, making public participation effective? How to involve better the private sector in the development and implementation of…
On 25 January 2017, a national round-table discussion on legal implementation of the UNECE Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment was held in Astana, Kazakhstan. Underpinning the round table was a legislative review prepared by UNECE experts, assessing the existing legislative…
Kazakhstan is assessing the prospects for developing a strategic environmental assessment system. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) helps to evaluate the likely environmental (including health) and social consequences related to implementing strategic decisions (national plans and…
An intersectoral (nexus) approach to managing water, energy, land resources and ecosystems has a significant potential to improve sustainability in the Syr Darya River Basin in Central Asia. This is the main conclusion of a technical report just issued by the United Nations Economic Commission…
Should the public be consulted about whether to extend the lifetime of a chemical or nuclear plant? Should the public have a say when there is a proposed change to a mining activity? What about the rights of future generations? Are their interests protected when deciding on sustainable…
Transboundary water cooperation often brings many more benefits than expected, but they are frequently not fully perceived by and not appropriately communicated to policy-makers. The Policy Guidance on Identifying, Assessing and Communicating Benefits of Transboundary water Cooperation,…