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UNECE, UNEP sign landmark agreement to strengthen partnership on green economy and sustainable development

The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), Christian Friis Bach, and the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Achim Steiner, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to reinforce the collaboration between UNEP and UNECE on environmental protection, supporting the shift to a green economy and promoting sustainable development.


The agreement will allow the two organizations to provide coherent assistance to Member States on a range of topics, from improvement of air quality, to boosting cooperation on environmental governance, to a shift to green economy. UNEP's and UNECE's common delivery on these issues will support the region's countries in overcoming the challenges they face in terms of sustainable development and energy, environmental protection and climate change.


Achim Steiner said, "Countries in the Pan-European region continue to make remarkable strides towards achieving equitable and sustainable green growth; leading the way on global climate change mitigation efforts, for example, by a wide margin. But the region also faces considerable challenges; from the unsustainable use of natural resources and unsatisfactory water quality to the increase in chemical waste levels and worsening air quality."

"This timely partnership with the UN Economic Commission for Europe - just months ahead of the adoption of a new set of sustainable development goals (SDGs) - will bring greater strength and coherence to our work which aims to support governments in their efforts to better manage shared natural resources and integrate environmental sustainability and resource efficiency into all aspects of development planning and policy implementation," he added.


Christian Friis Bach declared: “UNECE and UNEP already work very well together in Europe and Central Asia on supporting the transition to the green economy by helping member States enshrine sustainability across all sectors of the economy and all activities, from education to production and consumption”.


“We will now strengthen our cooperation to better support countries to implement the various regional and global multilateral environmental agreements hosted by UNECE and UNEP. This cooperation will also reinforce our capacity to help member States implement and monitor the expected Sustainable Development Goals, in particular by applying the methodology of the Environmental Performance Reviews,” he added.


Topics on which the two agencies pledged to enhance their existing collaboration include: preparations for and follow-up of the Environment for Europe Ministerial process, and in particular the next Ministerial Conference in Batumi in 2016; promotion of the shift towards a green economy in the pan-European region; improvement of air quality; implementation of the roadmap on Education for Sustainable Development in the region; environmental monitoring and assessment at country and regional levels, in particular via links between their information platforms.


The agreement foresees that the cooperation framework between the two organizations could be further extended to other sectors, in particular in the fields of energy, forests, housing and transport.


For more information, please contact:


Isabelle Valentiny, Head of Communications, UNEP’s Regional Office for Europe on Tel. +41 79 251 82 36 or [email protected]


Jean Rodriguez Chief, Information Unit, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on Tel. +41 22 917 27 27 or [email protected]

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United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Information Unit

Tel.: +41 (0) 22 917 12 34

Email: [email protected]

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