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Burkina Faso confirms interest in joining the Water Convention to improve management of its shared water resources in a context of increased climate change

Burkina Faso is one of the Sahelian countries hardest hit by the effects of climate change, experiencing torrential rains and floods, as well as periods of insufficient rainfall.  

To  help address these challenges, through adaptation, resilience and concerted, shared management of its water resources, Burkina Faso officially confirmed on 19 January 2024 its wish to accede to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, more commonly known as the Water Convention. 

Uzbekistan's accession to the Protocol on Water and Health opens new opportunities for stronger action on water, sanitation, hygiene and health

Uzbekistan has joined to the UNECE-WHO/Europe Protocol on Water and Health, thereby becoming its 29th Party and the first country in Central Asia to join this treaty. Accession to the Protocol is expected to serve as a catalyst to further drive and streamline national action on water, sanitation, hygiene and health with the aim of ensuring access and protecting the growing population of Uzbekistan against water-borne disease and in a changing climate. 

New UN regulation will ensure durable batteries for electric vans

Batteries fitted to electric vans will be required to be of high quality and durable over the years thanks to a proposal agreed today by UNECE’s Working Party on Pollution and Energy (GRPE).  

The proposal will now be submitted to the UNECE-hosted World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) for adoption in June 2024. 

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan commit to improving transboundary water cooperation for the benefit of 3 million people in the Chu and Talas river basins

Today, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan signed a joint statement on the approval of the Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the Chu and Talas river basins aimed at effective transboundary cooperation in the context of climate change to ensure health, security and economic well-being for the 3 million inhabitants as well as ecosystem resilience in the basin. The statement was signed by the Co-Chairs of the Chu-Talas Water Management Commission. 

Scientists provide recipe to halve Nitrogen pollution from food production

Nitrogen, which is vital for plant growth, is present in animal excreta and synthetic fertilisers that are applied to land to boost crop production. But excessive and inefficient use of this nutrient means up to 80% of it leaks into the environment, mostly in various polluting forms of nitrogen: ammonia and nitrogen oxides, which are harmful air pollutants; nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas; and nitrate, which affects water quality.   

Water-Food-Energy-Ecosystems Nexus: a decade of cross-sectoral cooperation under the Water Convention

Originally introduced in policy and development discussions in 2011, the water-food-energy-ecosystem nexus approach has evolved into a pivotal framework for sustainable development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Work on the water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus under the Water Convention started in 2013, with the development of a methodology to analyse cross-sectoral linkages – essentially resource management trade-offs and synergies — in transboundary settings in order to reconcile multiple water uses and facilitate cooperation.  

Meetings of Parties to UNECE treaties stress role of environmental assessment to boost sustainable energy transition and SDGs

Gathering in Geneva for the Meetings of the Parties to the UNECE Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention) and the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), Ministers and high-level government officials emphasized the crucial importance of these instruments for the sustainable energy transition, as well as for the shift to a more resource-efficient circular economy and the mobilization of trillions of dollars of green financing to realize these changes. 

Governments in Europe and North America agree to revise Gothenburg Protocol to avoid long-term damage from air pollution to health, ecosystems, yields and climate

Parties to the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention) have agreed to work to revise the Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-Level Ozone (Gothenburg Protocol), which is expected to further strengthen efforts to reduce air pollution in Europe and North America.  

Water Convention and partners support efforts to mobilize public and private capital for cross-border water management

Cooperation and management of transboundary waters, which span over 45% of the world's surface and serve as vital resources for nearly half of the global population, face the imminent threat of underfunding. The last reporting exercise on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator 6.5.2 (2020), highlighted that out of 129 countries reporting on SDG indicator 6.5.2, 76 indicated “resources constraints” as one of the main challenges faced in cooperating on transboundary waters.  

Water cooperation must remain at core of climate action to address security and health risks, urges UNECE at COP28

Climate change is a major stress factor for the world’s water resources, heightening risks of conflict in shared basins, threatening health and undermining sustainable development.  

During high-level discussions held at COP28 on the thematic days on Peace, Security, and Health and on Agriculture, Food and Water, UNECE and its partners stressed the critical need for joint water management across borders at the centre of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Key measures discussed include strengthened cooperation under the UN Water Convention. 

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