Press Releases
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When 32 Member States signed the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution in 1979, it was not evident that it would develop into a successful regional framework for controlling and reducing the damage to human health and the environment caused by transboundary air pollution. Yet, the
UNECE has launched a Road Map for Mainstreaming Ageing in Belarus, providing tailored guidance for a comprehensive policy response to population ageing.
Population ageing in Belarus
The Republic of Belarus, like many other UNECE member States, is undergoing demographic transformation from
Designing policies, tracking progress and holding policymakers accountable for their decisions depends on high quality, reliable and comparable statistical indicators. The essential role of data and statistics for fulfilling the SDGs is marked by their inclusion within the goals themselves: goal
Montenegro is to become the 27th Party to the Protocol on Water and Health in the next months and 8 other pan-European countries confirmed that they are on their way to accession!These announcements came as more than 225 participants from 40 countries gathered in Belgrade for the 5th
Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3 is to halve by 2030 per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses. The need for action is urgent - consider for instance that on average 14% of all the
Now is the moment to transform Central Asia from a periphery of the large trading blocs in Europe and East Asia into a bustling hub of development and trade at the heart of Eurasia. The Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, together with
More than 9 million tonnes of melons of various types are produced worldwide every year. Most melons are consumed fresh, leading to an abundance of available produce in many regions of the world including in Central Asia. Compared to the overall production, export volumes in Central Asia are low
Ensuring equitable access must be central to efforts to realize the basic human rights to water and sanitation. However, despite significant progress in the provision of water and sanitation in the pan-European region, the latest data of the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply
Over 31 million people in the Pan-European region lack access to basic sanitation services and 314,000 people still practice open defecation. Every day, 14 people die because of inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). In addition, there are significant inequalities in access to basic
Harmonizing and standardizing not only trade procedures, but also the accompanying information flows, can unlock significant time and cost savings. For this, using the same terminology and the same semantics of terms in different languages is crucial.To support this aim, UNECE has today released
Environmental assessments are tools that benefit people and nature. Their use ensures the soundness and transparency of economic and territorial planning decisions, preventing damage to the environment and health from economic growth. The Republic of Moldova committed to apply strategic
How are we doing?
This question is at the core of many official statistics. When we measure growth in the economy, changing population health, life expectancy or prices, we do so because ultimately we want to know how well our society is doing. Is life getting better or worse? How do we compare
Storms, beetle infestations, and wildfires: when reading the news about forests in the past months, it is evident that it has been a tough year for the forest sector. It is estimated that in Europe approximately 25% of the 2018 timber harvest was damaged by either storms or insects and in North
The boreal forest that circles the globe doesn’t make it to the news as often as the Amazon rainforest. However, it contains a third of all the trees on earth and in combination with its soil forms the largest storage of CO2, while refreshing the entire planet’s atmosphere with the oxygen it
Over the past eight years, North Macedonia has taken important strides in improving its environmental performance in several areas, including reducing its dependence on fossil fuels to generate electricity in favour of renewables, and strengthening waste and chemicals management. However, a
From young gender equality advocates to high-ranking government officials, key stakeholders from North America, Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia called for the urgent realization of women’s and girl’s human rights and for turning the commitments to gender equality into reality at the
Renewable energy now accounts for around one third of global power generation capacity, with increases being led by investments in solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind energy. More than 180 GW of renewable energy were installed in 2018, of which 100 GW were solar PV. As the costs of renewables
The countries of Central Asia - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - are facing an increased vulnerability of natural ecosystems. Yet, the socio-economic development of these countries is very much dependent on natural resources, particularly those – such as water
With growing urbanization, increasing world trade and new technologies, the global mobility system is stressed. More than 1 billion people, or one-third of the global rural population, lack access to all-weather roads and transport services, constituting a major barrier to social and economic
Poor road safety is a key sustainable development issue that affects each and every one of us, but is yet to be matched by global-scale funding mobilization. The UN Road Safety Fund aims to address this gap and has opened its first formal call for project proposals.The 2019 Call for Proposals
Local authorities are on the front line in addressing some of today’s most pressing sustainability challenges, including climate change, environmental degradation, social inclusion and mobility. However, despite their responsibility for actions affecting citizens’ lives every single day, making
Air pollution kills 7 million people every year according to WHO data. It is by far the world’s largest single environmental health risk and a leading cause of death by cancer. Air pollution is also closely linked to climate change and is a major cause of environmental degradation,
The global financial crisis of 2008 was the result of inadequate regulation of financial and real estate markets. Real estate bubbles were allowed to inflate, mortgage lending was inadequately supervised, the financial markets were allowed to develop complex financial instruments that few
UNECE and the Norwegian City of Trondheim have agreed to establish a Geneva UN Charter Centre of Excellence to advance sustainable housing as a foundation for urban development. This is the fifth Centre to be created by UNECE.The Geneva UN Charter on Sustainable Housing endorsed by UNECE
Belarus has made considerable progress in implementing sustainable housing and land management policies over the last decade, but targeted efforts will be required to address remaining challenges, according to a new UNECE report.The Second UNECE Country Profile on Housing and Land Management for