News
Displaying Results 126 - 150 of 341
The Executive Secretary will be in Madrid on 23 February to participate in the sixth meeting of the Environment and Health Ministerial Board. On this occasion the Ministers of Environment of Armenia, Montenegro, Portugal and the Russian Federation, who were appointed by the Committee on…
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…
The economies of Central Asia rely heavily on activities that produce, process or use large quantities of hazardous substances. The waste generated by activities including the extraction and processing of minerals and metals including mercury and uranium cannot be released into the environment…
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…
A vision for transboundary cooperation around the Senegal-Mauritanian Aquifer Basin (SMAB) has been developed by representatives of the States that share this aquifer system, namely The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania and Senegal.
This work was carried out in the second meeting of the…
Effective transboundary cooperation is crucial to address the frequent floods and droughts in the Dniester River basin, shared by the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. Such cooperation will become even more important in the future, as climate change is expected to affect the volume and seasonal…
The economies of Central Asia rely heavily on activities that produce, process or use large quantities of hazardous substances. The mining waste generated by activities such as the extraction and processing of minerals and metals including mercury and uranium cannot be released into the…
Capitalizing on countries’ renewable energy potential requires bringing together different actors and interests in order to overcome barriers and identify priority actions.Responding to this need, “New Possibilities for Developing Renewable Energy Sustainably in Serbia” was the focus of the 6th…
When scientists in the 1960s investigated the causes of the die-back of forests, the so-called ‘Waldsterben’, and acidification of lakes with associated fish loss, they found that air pollution, often emitted thousands of kilometres away, was the culprit. This research formed the basis for the…
Working in several areas relevant to climate change mitigation and adaptation, UNECE took part in COP21 to showcase the practical solutions it provides for issues related to air pollution, water, transport, sustainable energy and cities.UNECE Executive Secretary Christian Friis Bach and various…
We all need clean air to live. It is one of the things that we don’t think much about, we breathe in and breathe out automatically and take the air around us for granted. But dirty air takes a heavy toll on human health and the environment, leading to 7 million premature deaths annually,…
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…
Halfway to 2030, the future we want seems to be still well out of reach. The 2023 SDG progress report for the UNECE Region, which informed discussions at the inclusive and 1000-strong Regional Forum on Sustainable Development held last week, showed that despite some bright spots, we face a troubled…
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, UNEP and UNESCO, as co-leads, together with 15 other UN agencies, funds and programmes active in Europe and Central Asia, have joined forces to address environmental and climate change challenges. They have established a regional interagency Issue-based Coalition on Environment and…
The Drin River basin, shared by five Riparians: Albania, Greece, Kosovo (UNMIK, Security Council resolution 1244), Montenegro and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, faces several acute challenges, such as loss of biodiversity, pollution and frequent floods. The basin includes three major…
COP26 was a positive step forward in the fight against climate change, but as the UN Secretary General pointed out in his comments: “it is not enough. We must accelerate climate action to keep alive the goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.” The compromise deal reflects the…
Experts from UNECE member States and the secretariat will be visiting Bulgaria from 11 to 21 April 2016 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…
Recent studies have shown that emissions from agriculture are a major cause of mortality from air pollution in Europe. While agriculture does not immediately come to mind when thinking about sources of air pollutants, agricultural emissions, namely ammonia or NH3, are the single largest…
Despite a marked overall improvement over the last ten years of the economic picture in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, urban planning lagged, and the development of basic and social infrastructure did not keep up with population increase, particularly in informal settlements. According to estimates shared…
Europeans currently eat large amounts of meat, dairy products and eggs, exceeding health recommendations for the consumption of saturated fat and red meat. In addition, livestock production in the EU is the driver of around 80% of the losses of nitrogen from agriculture. The nitrogen that is…
According to the UNECE Smart Sustainable Cities profile for Tbilisi, presented today in the capital of Georgia, the city has made important efforts in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, capitalizing on the growth opportunities generated by the Association Agreement between…
Armenia has been a pioneer in the use of the Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) model in the Caucasus to improve its infrastructure and public services. In 2000, nine years since its independence, it concluded its first wave of water concession agreements for the provision of drinking water and…
From 25 to 27 April 2017, representatives from key authorities and stakeholders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan along with experts from the Russian Federation met to discuss issues related to dam safety in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, as part of…
The massive use of fertilizers and the production and use of manure in agriculture over the past 100 years have led to significant reactive nitrogen emissions to air and releases to water and land. Burning of fossil fuels (in vehicles, power plants and industry) is another source of reactive…