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The Paris Agreement entered into force just three days before the United Nations Climate Change Conference — also known as COP22 — kicked-off on 7 November in Marrakech, Morocco. “Our work here in Marrakech must reflect our new reality. No politician or citizen, no business manager or investor…
Source: UNECE Statistical database www.unece.org/stats/dataFrom September 2015 to September 2016 most West and Central European countries experienced modest increases in consumer prices, as measured by the 12-month rate of increase of the consumer price index (CPI).For instance, Germany and…
Taking feelings away, the famous quote by Leo Tolstoy: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”, could be easily applied to poverty. It is a widespread belief that life is easier for the relatively rich than for the poor. More importantly, however, every poor…
The preliminary results of a new UNECE study on the Drina River Basin in the Western Balkans suggest that broadening and intensifying transboundary water cooperation between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia would have potential benefits, including security benefits. Of particular…
How can public participation procedures in environmental decision-making be best designed to ensure that the public’s views are taken into consideration and improve the quality of the decisions taken? What public notification methods are the most effective nowadays? How can the human and…
The United Nations digital ambassador, Elyx, participated from 1 to 3 September in a field exercise simulating an oil spill in the Danube Delta, organised by UNECE to improve the response to industrial accidents.Elyx began on 15 August a 70-days trip to highlight UN’s work around the world on…
The need to develop water quality cooperation with neighbouring countries was at the centre of the debates in Astana this week. A seminar discussed a draft Review of Policy and Recommendations for Kazakhstan in the Field of Transboundary Water Resources Management, prepared by UNECE experts in…
The Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention), adopted in Helsinki on 17 March 1992, entered into force 20 years ago, on 6 October 1996. Over the past two decades, the Water Convention, which is serviced by UNECE, has become a…
To say that we live in an information age is starting to seem like an understatement. Data are available in unimaginable quantities and humankind is continuously producing more. Around 90% of existing data have been created in the past few years and according to estimates, the amount of data is…
Approximately 71% of the total surface water flow in Latin America is derived from shared basins, which cover 55% of the total area of the region. In South America, international basins provide 75% of the total flow, and in Mexico and Central America, 24%. Increasing impacts from climate change…
The Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), agreed in December 2015, will come into force in November following today’s vote of the European Parliament, which agreed to ratification by the European Union.With this vote, preceded by clear commitments…
Almost all countries in the world conduct a population and housing census at least every ten years, to produce key data for planning and administration at national and local level. In recent decades, census methodology and technology has developed significantly. Countries in the UNECE region are…
How best to implement Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs)? What synergies with other international instruments, in particular with the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention) and its protocols, can be used? These were some of the main topics…
Effectively adapting water management to climate change will require the allocation of additional funds for transboundary and regional projects, or at least considering transboundary aspects in national projects, where relevant. With more than 60% of all freshwater courses worldwide and the…
Kazakh university professors took part in a course on political and technical aspects of integrated water resources management (IWRM) at the German-Kazakh University in Almaty from 15-26 August. This was the first part of training for academic staff from the largest Kazakh universities within…
The UNECE region has neither the high economic inequalities typical for the Latin American region nor the high extreme poverty rates faced by some African countries. Yet, poverty continues to be widespread, especially affecting vulnerable population groups, such as ethnic minorities, immigrants…
A majority of the 53 UNECE member countries reported a decrease in the unemployment rate in 2015. The average unemployment rate in the UNECE region in 2015 was 8.8 per cent, which is 1.1 percentage points lower than in 2014 (9.9 per cent) and 1.7 percentage points less than in 2013 (10.5 per…
Decarbonisation, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, energy efficiency and renewable energies have become urgent priorities after the signing of the UN Paris Climate Agreement. Decarbonising transport is part of the vision for the future of a green and healthy mobility. The Austrian Ministry of…
UNECE member States are expected to submit national reports that provide an analysis of the current state of realization of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing and its Regional Implementation Strategy (MIPAA/RIS), by 31 October this year, as part of a five-year reporting cycle.…
On June 23-24, 2016 Russian and Kazakh experts met in Astana to discuss the first results of assessments of transboundary rivers Ural and Kigac. Final results will be presented at the annual meeting of Russian-Kazakh Intergovernmental Commission on Joint Use and Protection of Transboundary…
Policies that support cycling not only contribute to the fight against air pollution and greenhouse gases and boost health, but can also go a long way in creating jobs as part of the transition to a Green Economy, participants heard at a side event in Batumi.
An estimated 435,000…
2016 Aarhus week - How the Aarhus Convention contributes to sustainable development The three pillars of the UNECE Aarhus Convention - access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters - are universal environmental rights…
Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) can be instrumental in the transition towards the green economy. This was the key message delivered by three European environment ministers, UNECE, the European Commission, the Netherlands Commission on Environmental Assessment and civil society…
The 2012 Vienna Ministerial Declaration on Ageing underlines the importance of life-long learning, longer working life and access to information for older persons. A key factor in facilitating the participation of older persons in political, economic, cultural and social life is their access to…
Governments of the pan-European region reconfirmed their commitment to take the lead in the transition to a green economy and committed to reduce air pollution, the largest environmental health threat in the region. These were the main conclusions of the 8th “Environment for Europe” (EfE)…