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Displaying Results 851 - 875 of 1409

On 12 December, the Ukrainian Interagency Working Group on trade facilitation met and decided to: carry out a survey on the readiness of Ukraine to implement the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement; consolidate the national trade facilitation body of Ukraine; and develop a national trade facilitation
Ammonia emissions into the air is a major threat to human health, causing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Atmospheric ammonia is also a significant source of acidification and excess nutrient loading, causing loss of biodiversity in many of the most vulnerable ecosystems. This calls for
Improving connectivity between Afghanistan and Central Asia was the focus of discussions at the 2014 Economic Forum of the United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) held in Ashgabat on 4 December 2014 in the light of the Afghan chairmanship of SPECA during 2014
At the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents (Industrial Accidents Convention), held from 3 to 5 December 2014 in Geneva, Parties adopted a revised list of chemical substances to include an additional 13 categories
On Thursday, 4 December 2014, a three-day workshop was concluded in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to assess the intersectoral and transboundary aspects of managing the water, land, ecosystem and energy resources of the Syr Darya River Basin shared by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The
The United Nations Framework Classification for Fossil Energy and Mineral Reserves and Resources 2009 (UNFC) is now fully applicable to uranium and thorium resources. This marks an important step in the development of UNFC. The Bridging Document between the “Red Book” (the Uranium Classification
On 3 December 2014, 30 years to the day after the largest chemical accident in human history occurred in Bhopal, India, the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents
UNECE member States agreed on recommendations to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on how Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and CCS for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) should be treated in a Post-Kyoto Protocol Agreement. The agreement was made on 20 November during the
The UNECE is launching the Road Map for Mainstreaming Ageing in Georgia, a document to guide the country in strengthening its policy response to population ageing. The report is the result of more than a year’s research, including a desk review of existing policies, contributions from national
The North American forest sector experienced a steep decline in the wake of the 2008 global economic crisis, due to the associated downturn in the housing market. Most single-family homes in North America are built with wood, and this downturn had devastating effects on the domestic forest-based
Lead experts  in the field of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) gathered in Brussels for a two-day workshop this week to discuss how technology can be better used to create a driving and transportation culture that contributes to safe, efficient and sustainable mobility in the coming
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today in Geneva during the first session of the UNECE Group of Experts on Renewable Energy. The two organizations formalize
On the occasion of the official launch of the UNECE Innovation Performance Review of Armenia in Yerevan on 14 November 2014, the two sides agreed to cooperate on innovation policy reform. Under the agreement, which is to be signed at the 66th session of the Economic Commission for Europe in
Despite improving conditions in the five years since the economic crisis hit bottom in 2009, production output for the major forest products in the UNECE Region (Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and North America) are still 10-15% below the average annual output for the four
The UNECE region hosts an incredibly vast forested area: 1.89 billion hectares—twice the size of China or roughly four times the size of the whole European Union.This vast body of forests plays a very important role in climate change mitigation trough carbon sequestration. In addition, it
On this day 35 years ago, 34 Governments and the European Community signed the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention) out of a growing awareness that the ecological and human health problems throughout the region were caused by air pollution which did not respect
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP) organized a two-day workshop, in cooperation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), aimed at raising awareness of UN road safety
Good governance of mineral resources is critical for sustainable development in Africa.  This message is being reinforced in Johannesburg this week at the Regional Technical Workshop on UNFC with a focus on uranium resources. The United Nations Framework Classification for Fossil Energy and
On 6 -7 November 2014, over 500 stakeholders from UNECE member States’ governments, civil society, academia, international organizations and the private sector came together at the Palais des Nations to review the progress and setbacks of the past 20 years in the implementation of the Beijing
On 30 and 31 October 2014, Belarus and Lithuania negotiated a bilateral technical protocol on transboundary water cooperation for the shared Neman River Basin, facilitated by UNECE and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Belarus, in the framework of the project “River Basin
The Executive Secretaries of the five United Nations Regional Commissions are issuing a joint call for action to accelerate the transition to sustainable and fair energy, on the occasion of the 5th International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development in Hammamet, Tunisia. The Forum will
The drying out of the Aral Sea is one of the gravest environmental catastrophes in human history. It has had severe implications for the environment and the climate in the region, as well as for the health and development of the more than 60 million people living in the Aral Sea Basin.To
To implement Trade Facilitation and Paperless Trade, it is important for countries to be able to periodically measure progress and exchange experiences on respective practices. Having agreed on this need, the five UN Regional Commissions, namely, United Nations Regional Commissions (UNRC)
In the lead up to the 20th anniversary commemoration of the landmark Beijing Platform for Action, considered the most comprehensive agenda on women’s rights, UNECE has undertaken a review of the implementation of the Platform by its Member States. The results of this review will be the focus of
The UNECE region as a whole has 1.89 billion ha of forest land, 41.4% of the global total, as compared to 34.8% of global land area and 18.3% of the population.  The region’s share of the world’s forests is one percentage point more than ten years ago because UNECE region forests have