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In an important move to secure the supply of essential raw materials, the European Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) entered into force on 23 May 2024. This legislation is a cornerstone in enhancing the EU's capabilities in sourcing, processing, and recycling critical raw materials (CRMs), which…
In North Macedonia, assisting households to make investments in green technologies not only supports climate action, but also helps them save on energy costs and improves living standards.
To support this aim, UNECE, UNDP, and IOM organized a Capacity Building Workshop in Skopje on the design of…
Addressing the Tashkent International Investment Forum (2-3 May 2024), UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean called for the mobilization of private sector investments to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to foster regional cooperation in Central Asia.…
Critical minerals are essential for the energy transition as are intergenerational equity in resource management and the engagement of youth. With this in mind "Critical Minerals for the Sustainable Energy Transition: A Guidebook to Support Intergenerational Action” was launched today at the UNECE…
UNECE and partners are working together to support North Macedonia in its green energy transition by building capacities to finance energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE) projects.
To this end, UNECE and UNDP organized two training sessions on design and verification of energy…
The European Commission has proposed a new legislation, the European Critical Raw Materials Act, to ensure a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials for the EU. The Act, on which the European Parliament and the European Council reached a provisional agreement on 13 November,…
In the Drina River Basin, shared mainly by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia, working together across borders and jointly addressing water and energy challenges is a key part of effective climate action and the green transition.
As part of the Sarajevo Energy and Climate Week (25-29…
The extreme heat and drought that the region experienced this summer is a bleak reminder that current commitments under the Paris Agreement and those made last year at COP26 are nowhere near what is needed to limit global warming to below 1.5°C. Inaction is a policy choice that will lead to greater…
Building resilient energy systems to address the ongoing global energy crisis will be top of the agenda of the upcoming Sustainable Energy Week (19-23 September). Representatives from UNECE's 56 member States will discuss how to ensure energy for optimal social, economic, and environmental…
In 2022, international cooperation in energy and critical raw materials is high on the agenda. Optimal use of critical raw materials, for which demand is set to continue rising, will be crucial in delivering the green transition in energy, mobility and the digital world.
This will be in the…
At what point do we cease to be alarmed by a shocking reality? Many of you may already be familiar with the following figures, from the last WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety (2018).
Every year 1.3 million people are killed and around 50 million injured on the world’s roads, often with…
The COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have brought the benefits of paperless trading to the forefront of attention. Many countries are considering issuing, accepting and exchanging electronic documents for paperless trading. Issues related to paperless trading are also at the core of World Trade…
The need to digitalize information flows in international supply chains became clearer than ever during the pandemic, thanks to the reduced person-to-person contact this allows, on top of important efficiency gains. However, efforts to date have been fragmented. UNECE and its subsidiary body UN/…
With the UN Food Systems Summit taking place next week under the auspices of the UN General Assembly (23 September 2021), we must recognize that the food systems we have built over recent decades are unsustainable. The food choices we make every day as consumers and producers of food are having a…
A coordinated response is necessary for promoting and implementing the circular economy agenda globally. Concrete commitments from governments, businesses, international organizations, civil society and other stakeholders will be key to building the sustainable, resilient and low-carbon economy…
Countries of Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe have been hit hard by the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which threatens to derail sustainable development progress in the region.
However, there is also a stronger momentum towards regional cooperation, and countries can…
Statistics are all around us. All the more since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Rarely do we see a news story, political debate, press conference or even a social media debate that doesn’t reference statistics. In this environment, the custodians of the figures—the national statistical offices (NSOs…
The importance of statistical information to help us cope with disasters has never been clearer than over the past year. As the Covid-19 pandemic has gripped the world, numbers have become our bread and butter. Yet the pandemic has also highlighted the challenges and imperfections in many systems; …
The economic and sanitary crisis caused by the pandemic calls for new ways of doing business. We need to digitalize data and document exchange in cross-border transport and supply chains to avoid person-to-person contacts, while increasing the efficiency of trade and transport operations. However,…
Mobility is a primary enabler of our economic and social life. However, despite its many benefits, the costs of mobility to societies around the world remain unacceptably high. These include greenhouse gas emissions (transport accounts for some 24% of global CO2 emissions, three quarters of which…
In 2021, the volume of world merchandise trade is expected to increase by 8 per cent after falling 5.3 per cent in 2020. How UN/CEFACT recommendations and e-business standards can help boost trade and e-commerce was one of the key topics of the 36th UN/CEFACT Forum, convened online, by UNECE over…
The days of voluntary measures to improve sustainability in the garment and footwear sector appear to be numbered, according to speakers at a recent event. With regulation and smart policy implementation, the sector has the potential to build back better post-COVID-19, prioritising the environment …
Waste has turned into one of humanity’s predominant challenges. The generation of hazardous waste increased from an estimated 259 metric tonnes in 2007 to 394 metric tonnes in 2015; the most significant increases were from lower middle-income and higher middle-income countries and despite policy…
After months of the COVID-19 crisis challenging healthcare systems and undermining economies, governments worldwide are looking for ways to jump-start the economic recovery. Without factoring in environmental concerns, recovery packages risk undermining the foundations for sustainable development, …
Consumers are increasingly interested in making more environmentally and ethically aware choices when it comes to the clothes and shoes they wear, according to a series of recent studies. But the sector is awash with complex language and misleading labelling that makes it difficult for consumers to…