By becoming the first country from Latin America to accede to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention), Panama today made a decisive step to support the sustainable use of transboundary water resources through cooperation across borders.
Bringing together countries to share progress and experience on how to effectively manage their shared waters is a key characteristic of the Water Convention. Cooperation for the management of transboundary waters to promote sustainability, peace and security is the Convention’s mantra - especially relevant as climate change increases pressure on the world’s water resources.
Central Asian countries are actively working towards improving access to water and sanitation. Despite recent progress, Kazakhstan's aging infrastructure, lack of human resources and financial constraints still limit the access of rural population to improved water and sanitation services. In 2022, 10% of the rural population did not have regular access to water.
Public involvement in decision-making underpins the universal right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. 25 years since the adoption of a ground-breaking global treaty known as the Aarhus Convention – unparalleled in its success in putting environmental democracy into action – this matters more than ever, urges the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
For some time now, Uzbekistan has been engaged in various activities under the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention).
Following strong reduction from exhaust particle emissions (PM 2.5 and 10) over the past 20 years, due to international and national vehicle regulations, non-exhaust sources now make up approximately 80% of particle emissions from vehicle use, compared to some 40% in 2000. Non-exhaust emissions arise from road, tyre and brake wear and road dust resuspension.
The accurate measurement of vehicles’ tailpipe emissions, a key element in governments’ policy decisions and consumers’ choices to reduce the impact on air quality and the environment, will be significantly enhanced thanks to the adoption today of the United Nations Regulation on global Real Driving Emissions (Global RDE).
Trees belong in cities. Yet, as cities across the globe get bigger, trees and green spaces are lost to new buildings and infrastructure. With less than 20 percent of ground area covered by tree crowns, on average, cities all over the world need many more trees than they have today.
But why? Why do we need to bring nature back into people’s neighborhoods?
Over two-thirds of Togo’s water resources are shared, notably through the Mono River basin (shared with Benin) and Volta River basin (shared with Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Mali), as well as aquifers in the coastal sedimentary basin (shared with Ghana, Benin and Nigeria).
UNECE welcomes the approval by the Cabinet of the Ministers of Ukraine of the procedure for maintaining a National Pollutant Release and Transfer Register. The Register, to be operational from 8 October 2023, is expected to facilitate the free provision of information on pollution, such as greenhouse gas emissions, to the public and support transparency in emissions reporting by businesses.
This information will be made publicly accessible online on the EcoSystem web portal.