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UNECE and the QazTrade Center for Trade Policy Development are joining forces to advance sustainable trade and the circular economy in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is the first country in Central Asia to use the SPECA Principles of Sustainable Trade - a set of twenty principles, adopted by the countries…
Pulses have been an integral part of human diets for thousands of years, with ancient civilizations growing beans, chickpeas and lentils as far back as 7000 - 8000 BC. Pulses still form a core part of traditional food and culture in many countries. Rich in nutrients, minerals…
Standards for the SDGs conference to explore voluntary standards as powerful tools for sustainable developmentWe aren’t generally aware of the role of international standards in our daily lives. For individuals, standards ensure that products are safe, reliable and respect the environment. Every…
With the UN Food Systems Summit taking place next week under the auspices of the UN General Assembly (23 September 2021), we must recognize that the food systems we have built over recent decades are unsustainable. The food choices we make every day as consumers and producers of food are having a…
UNECE was engaged at the main global forum to assess and discuss progress in implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) – the seventh session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GP2022) held in Bali and online, 25-27 May 2022, fully embracing its theme: “…
The COVID-19 pandemic crisis will cost governments trillions of dollars, creating substantial burdens on taxpayers, together with huge macroeconomic imbalances and risks. This situation is likely to significantly constrain the investment in public infrastructure and services needed for the…
Every year we lose about 14% of the food produced before it is sold, and this does not even include the food never harvested. Even more is wasted at retail and consumer levels. At the same time, over 800 million people worldwide suffer from hunger, while food loss is a major contributor to CO2…
Countries of Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe have been hit hard by the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which threatens to derail sustainable development progress in the region.
However, there is also a stronger momentum towards regional cooperation, and countries can…
Last December, for the first time ever, containers with grapes left the port of Lüderitz, Namibia, bound for Europe - and they all complied with the quality requirements set out in UNECE’s agricultural standards. Checked by the recently established Agro-Marketing and Trade Agency (AMTA) under…
UNECE’s policy guidelines, standards and regulations will support countries in achieving most of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be approved in a few weeks by the United Nations General Assembly. The Goals supported by UNECE cover a wide range of areas including, among others:…
According to a recently published UNECE Policy Paper, the agrifood, the garment and footwear and the mineral sectors contribute significantly to the economic growth and employment in the UNECE region, while being major sources of global greenhouse gases (GHG) and environmental pollution. Evidence…
UNECE will undertake a study of the regulatory and procedural barriers to trade in Albania. The announcement was made during the visit of UNECE Executive Secretary Christian Friis Bach to Albania, on 26-27 January, where he participated in the National Conference in Elbasan and held a series of…
The need to digitalize information flows in international supply chains became clearer than ever during the pandemic, thanks to the reduced person-to-person contact this allows, on top of important efficiency gains. However, efforts to date have been fragmented. UNECE and its subsidiary body UN/…
Addressing the Tashkent International Investment Forum (2-3 May 2024), UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean called for the mobilization of private sector investments to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to foster regional cooperation in Central Asia.…
At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean highlighted the role of UNECE’s legal instruments, standards and tools in dealing with the most pressing global challenges, namely climate change, digital and green transformations, low-carbon energy…
Clothing production has doubled in the past 15 years. In 2018, the fashion industry produced around 2.1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) – 4% of the world’s total – leading to major environmental, health and social challenges. In 2020 in Europe, textile consumption had the third…
“It's now or never, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C”, stated the IPCC authors earlier this year. “Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible”, they continued.
With worsening climate effects all over the world, all eyes turned to COP27…
According to the 2023 Global Circularity Gap Report by the Circle Economy Foundation, transitioning to a circular economy will allow us to fulfil people's needs with only 70% of the materials we currently extract and use. The benefits of the circular economy are tremendous, as it not only addresses…
UNECE is deepening its support to help countries of the region capitalize on innovation to recover from the pandemic and realize the ambitious vision of the 2030 Agenda.
The UNECE Innovation for Sustainable Development Review (I4SDR) of Uzbekistan, which is currently underway, will set out…
Miracle seeds, power food or “poor man’s meat” as they are sometimes called – pulses (beans, lentils, chickpeas and more) are the super food that we have certainly all eaten - but which many of us have never heard of. Perhaps this is why the United Nations General Assembly named 2016…
The economic and sanitary crisis caused by the pandemic calls for new ways of doing business. We need to digitalize data and document exchange in cross-border transport and supply chains to avoid person-to-person contacts, while increasing the efficiency of trade and transport operations. However,…
The Dominican Republic has recorded impressive economic growth rates in past years, yet the agricultural export sector continues to face challenges impacting the country’s economic and social development and limiting the gains from its free-trade export potential. Informal domestic structures,…
The days of voluntary measures to improve sustainability in the garment and footwear sector appear to be numbered, according to speakers at a recent event. With regulation and smart policy implementation, the sector has the potential to build back better post-COVID-19, prioritising the environment …
In 2021, Chile was the world’s fourth largest importer of second-hand and unsold clothes, and the first in Latin America. Imports reached some 126,000 million tons, originating principally from China, the United States and the Republic of Korea.
About 40% of these clothes are imported through…
From the California wildfires, to Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas and the earthquakes and tsunami in Indonesia, disasters have wrought havoc in the lives of so many across our planet in the last few weeks alone. Local and national authorities are the prime responders when disasters strike,…