News
Displaying Results 1 - 25 of 30
Forests maintain water quality, regulate surface and ground water flows, and help to mitigate the risks of water-related disasters. Forests and water are closely connected and mutually interdependent. The way we manage our forests is key to the quality of the water we drink, to protect us from…
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…
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…
Four thousand kilometers away from the UNECE headquarters in Geneva used to lie the Aral Sea. It was the fourth biggest lake in the world, in fact the lake was bigger than Switzerland. But if we travelled there today, we would only find a desert as the lake has dried out. The Caucasus and…
UNECE is making a call to the World of Sports, including sports events’ organizers, committees, athletes, sportswear brands, producers and consumers to help advance circularity and sustainability in sports clothing.
The Forests4Fashion Sports Challenge aims to encourage the reuse of sportswear…
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 United Nations proclaimed 21 March the International Day of Forests in 2012 to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of forests of all types. Each year, events scattered around the world celebrate the contribution of trees to our life. Under the motto “Learn to love forests!” the…
While many of us have taken pain relievers, we do not always remember that one of the most extensively used medicines in the world – with an estimated annual consumption of 40,000 tons – salicylic acid, commonly known as aspirin, is based on a tree-derived ingredient.
The theme of this year’s…
Reducing forest cover, illegal logging and land degradation pose serious threat to the forests in the Caucasus and Central Asia. To address these issues forest sector needs a long term vision together with national strategies and action plans to support the sustainable management and use of…
For centuries, world’s forests have been cleared and removed for agricultural or other land uses, often resulting in degraded lands found in almost every country today. As global population increases and climate change threatens ecosystems worldwide, there is an urgent need for more sustainable…
Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General, Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary of UNECE and Malgorzata Golińska, Secretary of State of the Polish Ministry of Environment celebrated the International Day of Forests on 21 March 2019 at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, under the theme Learn to…
The Government of Azerbaijan intends to increase the importance of conserving and improving the country’s forest resources and strengthening the functions of forests around the country.In this regard, restructuring forestry institutions and setting-up a new management system are now on top of…
Azerbaijan is strengthening its forest sector with a new ten-year national forestry programme, developed with UNECE support. Strong emphasis is put on increasing forest cover while conserving and improving the country’s forest resources. The sustainable development of forests is among the main…
Under the theme: Forests, our common good, European Forest Week 2017 will highlight the contribution that European forests make to people’s lives. These include providing wood and renewable energy, promoting fresh water supply and protecting the environment.The city of Warsaw will host the 2017…
Wood energy is an important renewable energy source. The CO2 absorbed by growing trees is equivalent to the CO2 that is released by burning wood. In 2013, wood energy accounted for 3.5 percent of the total primary energy supply and 37.5% of the renewable energy supply among UNECE member States,…
Forest fashion takes centre stage at the United Nations Headquarters in New York for the 2018 High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development.As part of the UNECE/FAO Forests for Fashion initiative, together with the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and a…
The environmental rationale for protecting forests is well known. The benefits provided by forests, such as water and air purification, soil formation, carbon storage and biodiversity conservation are widely acknowledged. It is, however, less known that forest products also play an important…
Forests in Uzbekistan cover about 7% of the land area and play an important role in the protection and prevention of environmental degradation, in particular land degradation, natural disasters, and conservation of biodiversity and preservation of water quality. Moreover, wood is an important…
Forests are on the catwalk again, making sustainability more fashionable than ever. The initiative “Forests for Fashion” was first launched in 2014 by UNECE and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). Since then it has inspired other initiatives and partners to join forces and…
Forests host an estimated 80 percent of all terrestrial species of animals, plants and insects. The diverse species which inhabit vast forest landscapes play a key role in keeping forest ecosystems healthy and productive. Globally, biodiversity loss is taking its toll on the world’s forests:…
The fashion industry has a lot of potential for change, but currently faces a lot of problems. Almost 65 per cent of global fabric consumption consists of synthetic fibres derived from fossil fuels, which are not biodegradable and add to the already mounting problem of microplastics in our…
Katie Amos from the United Kingdom, Olesya Balashova from Russia, and Caroline Ulaga from Slovenia have won the European Forest Week 2017 Art Contest. FAO received 360 entries from 21 countries for the contest, which challenged participants aged 5-19 years to create a drawing or painting…
Tackling climate change and plastic pollution requires decisive measures at all levels, from international policy coordination to innovation in industry and changes to unsustainable practices in our everyday lives. As one example, the rise of online shopping and food delivery services allows us to…
Snowy trees, long winters, freezing temperatures – this is the common perception one has of the boreal forest. Yet the boreal forest, which circles the northern hemisphere and forms a ring around the north pole, is the world’s largest and perhaps most overlooked land biome. It covers 27 per cent of…
Armenian forests are among the most threatened ecosystems, with degradation accelerating, largely attributable to deforestation and overexploitation. Thus, “expansion of forests is one of the main goals for Armenia, not only for the forests’ protective role, but also to develop forest-related…