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The world is increasingly global. Think about music, movies, fashion, technology…the list goes on. The products we buy are often manufactured in distant places, and while we may not realize it, they often consist of parts developed, produced and assembled in different parts of the world.…
Between 2003 and 2013, the total number of fatalities in road traffic accidents decreased by more than 30 per cent in the UNECE region, reaching 108,857 in 2013. This trend was particularly pronounced between 2007 and 2010 with average annual decreases of more than 8 per cent. Beyond this…
Greening the economy, an approach to foster a healthy economy while ensuring environmental sustainability and social equity, is considered as one of the most promising ways to achieve sustainable development. Air pollution, which causes 7 million deaths per year worldwide and 600,000 premature…
Of the 37 UNECE member countries that reported average monthly wages and annual consumer price indices for 2013 and 2014, 32 saw an increase in real wages in 2014. Real wages only decreased in the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Ukraine in this period. With the exception of Ukraine,…
Iraq confirmed its intention to accede to the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) this year. After announcing its interest in joining the Convention in 2012, in 2013 Iraq established a national committee to study the…
Up-to-date, accurate and easy-to-find environmental information empowers public officials, entrepreneurs, workers, consumers and each of us to take informed decisions that impact our environment and well-being. Information is also key for fostering transparent governance, innovation and greening…
Kazakhstan is heavily dependent on water in rivers shared with other countries, in most cases as the downstream neighbour in basins shared with China, the Russian Federation and other Central Asian States. Given that climate change is expected to lead to decreased access to water for Kazakhstan…
“The Paris climate conference, COP21, seeks to deliver a clear pathway to meet the climate challenge and a system to help us measure and increase progress until we get the job done”, says Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (…
Sweden has become the first Party to accept the 2012 amendments to the 1999 Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone (Gothenburg Protocol) under the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention). The Gothenburg Protocol deals with…
Every day there are hazardous chemical substances released into the environment from industrial or agricultural sites that can affect our daily lives. Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs) help to effectively record these pollutants and make this information accessible to the public…
Policies to reduce air pollution and the promotion of sustainable transport have helped to significantly improve air quality in Europe. However, experts participating in the Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP) Symposium in Geneva stressed that more needs to be done…
Source: UNECE Statistical database www.unece.org/stats/data After trending downward in 2013 and 2014 inflation in most European economies has remained below 1 per cent through 2015, as measured by the 12 month rates of change of the consumer price index (CPI). Several countries have…
With almost one third of the world’s population living in internationally shared basins and two thirds of global freshwater being supplied by these areas, transboundary water cooperation is crucial to ensure sustainable development. Nearly 350 participants from more than 70 countries will gather…
Experts from UNECE member States and the secretariat will be visiting Tajikistan from 9 to 18 November for a field mission in the framework of the third environmental performance review (EPR) of the country. The team will meet governmental officials and representatives of international…
Traditional employment statistics, such as unemployment rates and labour force participation rates, have long been produced by national statistics offices, but they provide only limited information about a country’s labour market situation. Policymakers, governments and researchers have…
Close cooperation of environment, transport and energy authorities in developing and implementing effective policies can significantly lower emissions of air pollutants leading to improved air quality with resulting benefits for the environment and human health. And such intersectoral cooperation…
Afghan and Tajik officials met in Dushanbe on 22 and 23 October 2015 to discuss their bilateral water cooperation in the Pyanj River Basin. The meeting marked the fifth anniversary of the Afghan-Tajik bilateral water cooperation agreement, and a fruitful continuation of negotiations on a…
“Better data, better lives” is the theme selected for the World Statistics Day on 20 October 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly. It is a day when the international community will be celebrating Official Statistics, data that are behind an incredible amount of information we digest daily…
To share its experiences in tackling the emissions of key air pollutants in the pan-European region through the work under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, UNECE participated in a conference on “Clean air in China through effective compliance and enforcement”, which took…
What do we know about our exposure to hazardous substances by using cosmetics, food, toys, furniture, electronics, building materials and other everyday items? Do we know what hazardous substances, and how much, are being released into the environment from industrial or agricultural sites close…
The commitment for economically advanced countries to provide 0.7% of their gross national income (GNI) in the form of official development assistance (ODA) has been reaffirmed in many international agreements over the yearsi . It has been used to measure progress under Millennium Development Goal…
The challenges posed by climate change to Central Asia, the likelihood of more frequent compound water-energy-food crises and the growing strain on the shared water resources of the region due to economic development and demographic growth require more intensive joint efforts by the countries of…
Many of us might not be familiar with the term statistical business register (SBR), however, a large amount of the economic information we digest daily relies on it. This includes statistics about establishments and enterprises and their activities, business demography and entrepreneurship…
The push for a global agreement on climate change is increasing like the pace of a high-speed train. The next stop is the Paris Climate Conference in December, where 196 countries need to get on board the new climate agreement. To navigate climate action along those tracks, policy makers will…
Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain are some of the UNECE member countries that were most severely affected by the 2008 financial crisis. Amongst these countries, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain all experienced modest employment growth in 2014 compared to the year before.Employment grew…