Press Releases
Displaying Results 701 - 725 of 1406
On 22 November 2016, on the initiative of the current Council President (Senegal), for the first time the United Nations Security Council held an open debate on water, peace and security. In his opening remarks, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon highlighted the role of the UNECE Convention on the
Central Asia faces numerous security, economic and environmental challenges in the new global situation. It becomes evident that all countries in the region need regional cooperation in order to face these challenges and secure sustainable development. This is why the participating countries in
The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations received Global NCAP’s Annual Award in recognition of its role promoting global regulations for vehicle safety in the interests of consumer protection. The award was handed over by David Ward, Secretary General of Global NCAP,
In the pan-European region, diarrhoeal diseases still cause an estimated 14 deaths per day due to inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene. Renewed momentum is therefore needed to address these persisting challenges. An ambitious programme of work aimed at addressing these is to be adopted
More than half of the global population lives in cities. The current world population is projected to reach more than 9 billion by 2050, with 70% to 80% living in cities by then. If cities are to ensure that the right infrastructure and service provision for a growing population is in place, new
UNECE and the United Nations Country Team announced today that they will continue their support to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s development efforts over the next five years. This will be achieved through the implementation of a Partnership for Sustainable Development, the United
We live in uncertain times with strong divisive forces and global processes at play. Amid this uncertainty, the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda provides a strong vision that defines our ambitions and is shaping policy actions –at the national, regional and global levels.There is a potential
In the framework of a United Nations Programme of Cooperation for Sustainable Development, UNECE will provide technical assistance to Albania in a variety of areas including housing and urban development and energy efficiency. This will also include increasing the capacity of national
How will the world look 50 years from now? Visions of life in the future often show shiny cityscapes of glass and steel. Cities with tall buildings of flowing shapes. It would seem that wood is not what we associate with our future yet “the 21st Century will be seen as the century of wood” said
At the closing session of the Seventh International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development, the delegates called on the governments and international organizations to take urgent steps for transformation of energy systems. There is a gap between current actions taken by governments and the
The coal industry, national governments, trade unions, and worker safety advocates are concerned with the frequency and severity of methane explosions in coal mines, especially in emerging economies. No mine, even in the most developed countries, is free from safety risks. Regardless of location
Today 54 per cent of the world’s population lives in urban areas. By 2050, almost three quarters of the world’s population will live in urban areas – this will be the Century of the City. The New Urban Agenda to be adopted by Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable
The certified forest area coverage extended across 11% of global forests in 2015. The UNECE region, with about 40% (1.6 billion hectares) of the global forest estate, accounted for 87% of the total global certified forest area (graph 1). Of the global certified forest area, 48% is in North
During the last five years, Belarus has undertaken important measures to upgrade its national innovation system. These include legislative changes to encourage the commercialization of intellectual property, the centralisation of its innovation funds, and the inclusion of innovation enhancing
Geothermal energy could play a significant role in ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, but production today is only at 7% of the estimated global potential. Geothermal energy exists in almost 90 countries, but only 24 of them produce electricity from
The assessment of global resources of oil and gas will be greatly improved with the implementation of a Bridging Document that relates the reserves and resources in the Oil and Combustible Gas of the Russian Federation Classification to the categories and classes of the United Nations Framework
Tunisian officials discussed the country’s possible accession to the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) during a national workshop "Benefits of cooperation and the UNECE Water Convention", held in Tunis on
630,000 Moldovan citizens (17% percent of the population of the Republic of Moldova) do not enjoy access to improved water supply systems and around one million citizens (28% of the population) do not have access to improved sanitation systems. In order to remedy this situation, the Ministers of
Industrial safety is a matter of serious concern for countries with economies in transition, which often face challenges in protecting lives and the health of people and the environment from industrial accidents. To assist its member States in coordinating their efforts aimed at safeguarding
The 2008 global financial and economic crisis underscored the vital role that stable and transparent housing markets play in a country’s economy. As a result of the crisis, some countries have experienced disturbing imbalances in their housing markets with foreclosures, homelessness, excess
In recent decades, the number of international migrants globally has grown faster than the world’s population. While the current refugee crisis has drawn the focus of attention to newly arriving asylum seekers, the UNECE region has long been a destination for migrants. In Northern and Western
On 11 July 2016, France approved the amendment on genetically modified organisms (GMO amendment) to the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention), raising the total number of the Parties
China has taken a key step towards the development of international economic corridors with its regional trading partners and the rest of the world with the accession to the United Nations TIR Convention. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, acting in his capacity as depositary, informed
The capture and use of methane from coal mines is one of the effective near-term options to tackle climate change. In October 2015 UNECE and Poland signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing an International Centre of Excellence on Coal Mine Methane that would disseminate best practices
Robust data on the availability of European forests for wood supply is essential for the analysis of the sustainability of forest management and for planning and forecasting the use of wood resources, biomass and renewable energy. But it is also highly relevant for the analysis of global climate