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Do you know where pollutants in the air we breathe come from? Understanding how pollutant emissions will evolve in the future is essential for designing effective clean air policies today while taking into account the available resources in a given country.While air quality in the UNECE region…
Upholding the principles of environmental democracy means ensuring a safe space for shaping the environment for all members of the public, including environmental activists, who are increasingly under threat in many countries. It also means making sure the public is equipped to participate in…
The Dominican Republic has recorded impressive economic growth rates in past years, yet the agricultural export sector continues to face challenges impacting the country’s economic and social development and limiting the gains from its free-trade export potential. Informal domestic structures,…
About 3 billion people, over 40% of the global population, live within transboundary basins and rely on the good management of transboundary waters to secure drinking water supplies, support economic activities such as agricultural and energy production, and promote peace and stability. The…
This year’s International Day of Older Persons on 1 October will celebrate the older people around the world who dedicate their lives to championing human rights. 2018 also marks the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).Older human rights champions…
From the California wildfires, to Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas and the earthquakes and tsunami in Indonesia, disasters have wrought havoc in the lives of so many across our planet in the last few weeks alone. Local and national authorities are the prime responders when disasters strike,…
What are the interlinkages between Sustainable Development Goals on sustainable energy (SDG 7) and gender equality (SDG 5)? How can improving understanding of gender dimensions within the energy sector and promoting women’s participation in energy-related decision-making drive progress in both…
Experts from Hungary, Ukraine, Serbia, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia, Czechia and Austria joined UNECE in Hungary to take part this week in a practical exercise in the operational area of the Danube Oil Refinery related to industrial accident and water pollution management. This one day exercise…
Today, more than half of the world population lives in cities – a number expected to grow to 70% by 2030. The concern about the pressure a growing urban population will put on cities in the future is unmistakably reflected in the distinctly urban component of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable…
During the last four years, UNECE together with UNDP and partner aid agencies, have worked with the public and the private sectors in Central Asia to improve their capacity to sell products in the UNECE region and beyond. The focus has been Central Asia’s largest production region, an area…
The expansion of the digital economy and cross-border electronic commerce means there is greater need for trade facilitation reforms. While purchasing an item online is relatively straightforward, the rest of the regulatory or commercial formalities are critical for faster and efficient receipt…
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have faced development challenges since they became independent in the early nineties. Recent years have seen more activities aimed at fostering greater stability, prosperity, sustainability and transboundary cooperation…
As part of broad support to countries’ sustainable energy transition, a field project implemented by UNECE has introduced a cost-effective green technology-solution in rural Kyrgyzstan. A new biogas unit, launched in September 2018, delivers concrete renewable energy solutions for a rural…
Ratification and implementation of the Air Convention and its protocols reduces health and environmental impacts in a more cost-effective way than unilateral action by one country alone. Ratification and implementation also creates economic benefits as harmonized legislation and standards across…
Approximately 40 per cent of the world’s population live in transboundary river and lake basins, which account for an estimated 60% of global freshwater flow. These shared water resources support the livelihoods of more than 3 billion of people, making transboundary water cooperation between…
Censuses are the keystone of national statistics—only with comprehensive knowledge of the number of people in a country, how they are distributed across the towns, cities and villages of the country, and the shares of children, youth, working-age people and older people, can effective policies…
The role of the UN Development System (UNDS) in supporting implementation of the holistic 2030 Agenda is framed by the UN Mainstreaming, Acceleration and Policy Support (MAPS) common approach. This system-wide undertaking represents a crucial opportunity to mobilize and leverage the expertise…
How can we deliver better results on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? In a joint quest for answers, UNECE member States and key stakeholders will gather in Geneva on 21-22 March 2019 for the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development for the UNECE Region.Closely aligned with the issues…
Sustainable urban development is a fundamental dimension of the ambitious 2030 Agenda. Coinciding with World Habitat Day, UNECE is organizing “Urban Week 2018” with a series of events exploring challenges and solutions for sustainable urban development, held from 1-5 October at the Palais des…
In 2015, it was estimated that 1.6 billion people worldwide lacked adequate housing. While levels of homelessness vary considerably across UNECE countries, finding sustainable solutions to ensure access to housing for all members of society remains a significant challenge across the region.…
To avoid damage to the environment, public health and the economy, adopting targets to reduce emissions and introducing measures to enforce them is essential. Providing a framework to facilitate these measures, UNECE assists countries in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia in…
Kazakhstan has taken another step towards monitoring sustainable forest management in support of the Sustainable Development Goals by including socio-economic and governance indicators in the country’s forest monitoring system.National forest monitoring systems and assessments are designed to…
Standards for the SDGs conference to explore voluntary standards as powerful tools for sustainable developmentWe aren’t generally aware of the role of international standards in our daily lives. For individuals, standards ensure that products are safe, reliable and respect the environment. Every…
The Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (the Escazú Agreement), developed under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), will open for signature by…
For any evidence-based transport policy, producing relevant transport statistics that are timely, accurate and impartial are necessary. In addition this allows the monitoring of the transport-related Sustainable Development Goals, such as indicator 3.6.1 on reducing road fatalities, 9.1.2 on…