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Air Convention Task Force discusses impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns on air quality in the UNECE region
One year after the first COVID-19 lockdown in many parts of the UNECE region, scientists and experts are studying the effects of lockdown measures on air quality. A study from Germany showed that while levels of nitrogen oxides (NO2) measured at urban stations decreased during the lockdown in…
The extraction of raw materials worldwide has more than doubled since 1990 and could double again by 2060 in the absence of corrective policies. According to the UN International Resources Panel, resource extraction and processing account for 90% of global biodiversity loss and water stress impacts…
UNECE continues to help its member States to respond to COVID-19 crisis. As part of this work, Guidelines and Best Practices for Micro-, Small and Medium Enterprises in Delivering Energy-Efficient Products and in Providing Renewable Energy Equipment developed earlier are being customized for North…
Systemic deficiencies with regard to access to information, decision-making or compliance with environmental law can seriously threaten successful implementation of circular and green economy and sustainable development. Taking a case to court to advance a widely shared public interest remains an…
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on cities and the wellbeing of communities. Cities and urban areas are at the frontline in the fight against the COVID-19 public health crisis and its socio-economic consequences. They also hold significant potential for recovering better by adopting…
Olga Algayerova
Women’s Day Blog
On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, I would like to pay tribute to all women leaders, and all women and men, girls and boys, who are empowering women and girls to build a better future for all!
The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is…
Achieving equality between women and men is a core goal of governments and the international community. The frameworks that guide us towards this goal—the Sustainable Development Agenda and The Beijing Platform for Action, among others—emphasize that for equality to be achieved, women and men must …
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed dysfunctions in many systems, including those that affect the lives of older people and their communities. COVID-19 has disproportionately affected older persons – nearly 9 out of 10 COVID-19 deaths in the UNECE region have been among those aged 65 and older.…
Sound emission inventories are the first step for designing effective clean air policies as they provide information about the main sources and the most acute air pollution problems in a country.
Under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution(Air Convention), UNECE has therefore…
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, …
Knowing where exactly air pollutant emissions are coming from in a given country is important to make viable policy decisions.
As a result of integrated air pollution management strategies developed under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention…
An estimated one billion people worldwide live with disabilities. In the European Union, one person in seven among the working age population reports a difficulty with a basic activity – such as walking, seeing or hearing, lifting or carrying, sitting or standing, and remembering and concentrating…
We stand at a critical moment. More than ever, the great challenges we face – like COVID-19, the climate crisis, unsustainable resource use, and inequalities – cannot be faced by one country alone. The 75th anniversary of the United Nations is the time to reflect on how we can best work together to…
COVID-19 has significantly changed the way UN/CEFACT works. As the focal point within the United Nations Economic and Social Council for trade facilitation recommendations and electronic business standards, UN/CEFACT typically convenes experts twice per year to a week-long Forum to discuss current…
Data can be a matter of life and death. We have seen in recent years how statistical information about the structure of the communities affected by earthquakes or typhoons—how many people, in which age groups, and in which locations—is essential for making quick and informed decisions to mobilize…
The COVID-19 health crisis has caused wide-ranging socio-economic disruption worldwide. This has exposed and aggravated existing social imbalances. The pandemic has called for unprecedented measures to protect those so close to our heart: our parents, grandparents, the elderly and vulnerable.…
With the consequences of COVID-19 still unfolding, one area of major disruption has been to global food systems, resulting in significant increases in food loss and waste.
Today, the first ever International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, is a wake-up call. We must access and make…
While COVID-19-related disruptions may have impacted people’s mobility and slowed cross-border movements of people and goods this year, pollution knows no travel restrictions. Air pollutants, travelling through our atmosphere, can harm people and the environment even thousands of kilometres…
In early March this year, the UN Secretary-General called for countries to step up their efforts and turn deforestation around in order to make 2020 a ‘super year’ for nature.
This call arrived following the release of an alarming report highlighting the unprecedented speed at which ecosystems…
The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures implemented by most of the governments in the UNECE region have fundamentally changed the way we work, study, communicate, define priorities and function in our everyday life. Governments and international organisations have focused on immediate…
Risk is a part of our everyday lives. When we wear a helmet to ride a bike, for example, we accept a small inconvenience to reduce the risk of a fall or an accident. When a homeowner decides to retrofit their house, they incur a cost to shield against an earthquake or a flood. Faced with the COVID…
Most Governments have responded to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic by declaring a state of emergency and by adopting numerous measures to combat the spread of the virus, which have often included restrictions on the freedoms of assembly and movement. This has altered the way in which…
Like so much else in our societies that we had taken for granted before the COVID-19 crisis, the daily commute has for many been temporarily set aside in a makeshift home office.
After weeks of lockdown and confinement, the priority now is to relaunch the economy, while maintaining the necessary…
By UNECE Executive Secretary Olga Algayerova and UN Women Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Alia El-Yassir
Since the global outbreak of COVID-19, essential workers have been risking their lives in order to protect ours. No expense should be spared to ensure the availability and…
We are living in one of those moments which define history. As it is always the case in such moments, the promise and peril of international cooperation, solidarity and multilateralism inevitably come under the spotlight, as evidenced by the overwhelming media attention given to governments’…