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The economies of Central Asia rely heavily on activities that produce, process or use large quantities of hazardous substances. The waste generated by activities including the extraction and processing of minerals and metals including mercury and uranium cannot be released into the environment…
Air pollution is by far the world’s largest single environmental health risk and cause of death by cancer. Dubbed “the invisible killer”, it is estimated to be responsible for about 7 million deaths annually – a situation that in reality could be much worse, as indicated by recent scientific…
Major industrial accidents can have far-reaching, transboundary and long-term impacts on populations and the environment. Without adequate coordination between land-use planning and industrial safety communities to ensure, for example, appropriate land use zoning and safety distances, the…
Poor air quality and climate change are closely linked. Burning fossil fuels releases both air pollutants and greenhouse gases. Thus, reducing air pollution from these sources will help to improve air quality and address climate change at the same time. Some air pollutants are also climate-…
In recent years, countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia have made significant progress in developing national forest monitoring systems and have committed to implement large-scale forest landscape restoration. The Astana Resolution and the commitment of the region in 2018 to restore over 2.5…
The UN entities in Europe and Central Asia keep forging ahead in better connecting their expertise and capacities to support the 2030 Agenda in the region. The Regional UN System Meeting (Istanbul, 20-21 May) – the joint policy and operational platform bringing together all UN entities in the…
Gender equality is taking an increasingly visible place at the heart of national and international development policymaking. As it becomes ever more clear that effective, sustainable development depends on a genuine inclusion of gender concerns in all areas, policymakers are finding that they…
An efficient road network can directly contribute to sustainable transport connectivity, regional integration and economic growth. An efficient and sustainable network enables time and cost savings and enhanced trade through cross-border facilitation. However, the connectivity of road…
When it comes to choosing techniques to reduce emissions from industrial processes, for example, in a plant producing cement, operators might find themselves in a difficult spot. To comply with national regulations on permissible emissions from this plant, the operator, who might have been in…
Water-related ecosystems can be significantly impacted by climate change. At the same time, healthy and sustainable ecosystems increase our resilience to the adverse impacts of climate change because of the services they could provide. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is one of the nature-based…
Africa leads the world in implementing a new system for management of resources Africa-wide. The new system, based on the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC), will launch the continent on a path of social, environmental and economic progress. In 2009, Africa inaugurated…
Profits matter in any industry but prioritizing short-term financial gains at the expense of longer-term considerations – which must also address social and environmental aspects – cannot be an enduring business model. Raising objectives in terms of social and environmental outcomes can…
The Niger River Basin, shared by Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Chad, is the second largest river Basin in West Africa and home to 140 million people. With increasing demands on its water resources, ensuring cooperation for their management is…
The revision of the Gothenburg Protocol in 2012 marked a milestone in the development of the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution as it resulted in the first binding agreement to include emission reduction commitments for fine particulate matter. Also for the first time,…
A consumer price index, or CPI, is a statistical indication of how much money people would need to spend to maintain the same level of consumption over time. It compares the prices of goods and services on which a typical household spends money—such as food, transport, clothing, health care and…
No one left behind – this is the fundamental promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and one of its most important commitments at all political levels: international, national and local. To make good on this promise we need data to show us how different groups in society are…
UNECE and the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) agreed on enhancing their cooperation for the use of international semantic standards for trade data exchange, thus contributing to the establishment of common basis for trade information sharing in the broader European space. At a UNECE-EEC…
Businesses have gone increasingly global. Their value chains are often supported by subcontractors from all over the world. The production process is a giant global jigsaw puzzle with all the pieces slotting together only in the final assembly line. The impact of this globalization of business…
Strong cooperation between the World Bank and UNECE, which services the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and international Lakes (Water Convention), can bring many benefits: the Convention can increase the sustainability of regional and basin cooperation…
Despite being a relatively water-rich country for the Middle East, water is an increasingly scarce resource in Lebanon. Transboundary cooperation for the sustainable management of its three transboundary watercourses — the Asi-Orontes, the Nahr al-Kabir and the Hasbani-Wazzani Rivers — as well…
The 21st century is known as the information age, with connectivity and access to information and services only a few simple clicks away. Technology has been dubbed as the ‘great equalizer’, bringing access and convenience to those in remote areas — but does it truly provide equality for all?…
How can blockchain technology help to capitalize on the opportunities of smart cities for sustainable development?Aiming to harness this potential, start-ups from ten countries congregated in the Palais des Nations this week as part of the 25th Session of the UN/CEFACT Plenary, coinciding…
How can the digital revolution in technologies help to overcome challenges in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?This was at the heart of debates at the 33rd UN/CEFACT Forum (United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business) held in Geneva on 1-5 April.…
Climate change, the loss of biodiversity and air and water pollution are among the global environmental problems that affect everyone’s health and wellbeing. Tackling such challenges in the context of social and economic development is at the very heart of efforts to attain the Sustainable…
Technology is evolving faster than ever before in human history. We are at the intersection of several cutting-edge technologies that are redefining interactions between the physical and virtual world, driving disruption and enabling new business models. Thought-leaders and practitioners…