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During her recent two-day visit to Turkmenistan UNECE Executive Secretary Olga Algayerova spoke at international conference “Dialogue is a Guarantee of Peace” in Ashgabat and discussed areas of cooperation with the highest government officials, focusing on future circular, digital and green…
During its recent mission in Turkmenistan, a UNECE delegation presented a proposal for a new analytical project - “Trade and Innovation for Sustainable Development of Turkmenistan” - to the government and international stakeholders, aimed at supporting the country to enhance innovation governance…
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the UNECE Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents. This unique international legal instrument, signed on 17 March 1992 and in force since 2000, helps to protect people and the environment from the devastating effects of industrial…
Eight years remain to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and yet, the world is not on track to attaining most of the targets. We are far from a fully realized circular economy transition, or from limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The…
Innovation will be crucial for rebuilding Ukraine’s economic and social systems to ensure the country’s long-term prosperity, resilience and sustainability. To support Ukraine in addressing these challenges, UNECE organized a study tour to Geneva for three Ukrainian officials.
The study tour (14-…
The tenth meeting of the Task Force on Public Participation in Decision-making under the Aarhus Convention (Geneva (hybrid), 10–11 October 2022) focused on effective public participation in decision-making in the context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and on health-related issues…
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent economic slowdown, as well as the widespread negative repercussions of the regional conflicts, such as disruptions in international trade and investments, have made it increasingly difficult for the Eastern Europe and South Caucasus (EESC)…
Premature mortality attributable to poor air quality results in high costs. For example, a study by WHO and OECD estimates that in 2010 costs of air pollution related premature deaths in Georgia were at about 9 billion USD. The main sources of air pollution are the transport and agricultural…
The importance of clean air for the quality of our lives has recently been recognised by the United Nations General Assembly. What is more is that in the General Assembly session at the end of July, Member States overwhelmingly adopted a resolution recognising that a clean, healthy and sustainable…
As part of UNECE’s effort to support innovation-led, sustainable development in Armenia, UNECE’s Innovative Policies Development (IPDS) makes progress in identifying binding constraints to innovation during a fact-finding mission to Yerevan.
Aimed at providing a comprehensive assessment of…
Accidental water pollution, which can be sudden and heavy as a result of industrial accidents, endangers people and the environment where chemical activities take place near a river, lake or water body. Accidental water pollution events can be triggered by natural hazards, such as floods, lightning…
As Ministers from across the UNECE region gather in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia to outline new initiatives to work towards a sustainable and ecological future at the 9th Environment for Europe Conference (5-7 October), the final report on the Batumi Action for Cleaner Air (BACA), adopted 6 years…
Public procurement represents 10 per cent of Georgia’s GDP. Therefore, innovation-enhancing procurement (IEP) can be a powerful policy lever to catalyze innovation and promote sustainability. Using public procurement to drive innovation is one of the recommendations arising from the Innovation for…
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…
With the review of the amended Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-Level Ozone (Gothenburg Protocol) about to enter its final round, expert groups under the UNECE Air Convention are now discussing latest findings to assess the effectiveness of measures.
The amended Protocol…
All too often we take the air we breathe and share for granted. Only when we breathe very polluted air, when we can smell and see the pollution, do we realize that the air around us is a precious good that needs to be protected, much like the water we drink. On the International Day of Clean Air…
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to hit hard the countries of the United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) and highlights the need to diversify from current, resource-dependent models of economic development. This will mean putting ‘innovation and technology that…
The majority of the ocean’s pollution originates from land-based sources and is washed into the ocean through rivers and other waterways. Turning the tide on marine pollution requires global action, and transboundary cooperation over shared waters forms part of the much-needed solution.
Maritime…
Last week, Parties to the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) gathered alongside representatives of civil society, international organizations, academia, private organizations and other…
Making drinking water and sanitation services affordable for all is key to guaranteeing the human rights to drinking water and sanitation. In the human rights framework, water and sanitation services are unaffordable when paying for them would compromise the ability to pay for other essential needs…
Namibia shares all its perennial rivers with neighboring countries and is both a mid-stream and downstream country. Transboundary water cooperation is therefore crucial for Namibia’s water security and sustainable socio-economic development. In today’s interconnected world, water availability is…
Regional seas and coastal ecosystems, located either entirely or partly within the UNECE region, face growing environmental pressures caused by climate change, the increasing pollution loads, tourism, fishing, mining of minerals, and energy production (such as offshore wind power plants). These…
Transport continues to be a significant source of air pollution, especially in cities in the UNECE region. Air pollutants, such as particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), harm human health and the environment. Although air pollution from transport has decreased in the last decade…
Countries of the Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus (EESC) sub-region (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine) have a lot of potential to continue the transition to a more sustainable economic growth model that is less vulnerable to external shocks. Innovation, or…
The Second High-Level International Conference on the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development”, 2018-2028, held on 6-9 June 2022 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, was a strong call for acceleration of efforts on water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda. The meeting…