Sales of electric and hybrid vehicles are surging in major markets including China, Europe and North America, and reached 3 million vehicles in 2020, 4.6% of total sales. In Europe, their market share reached 10%. According to the projections of the International Energy Agency, their global market share could reach between 10.4% and 19% in 2025.
Close to 100 people are reported to have died from a blast following a crash between a tanker and a truck in a busy commercial district of Freetown, Sierra Leone.
UNECE stands in solidarity with the people of Sierra Leone and is ready to support all countries to implement proven United Nations instruments to prevent such accidents from occurring and to reduce the severity of their consequences.
The launch of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 sets the ambitious target of preventing at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030. To realize this vision, UNECE partnered with WHO and its sister UN Regional Commissions to develop a Global Plan for the Decade of Action, which is released today.
The digitalization of the “carnet de passages en douane” – or “CPD” system –, which facilitates the temporary importation of private and commercial vehicles, is expected to greatly improve its efficiency, speed and transparency. Through enhanced data management, the digitalized “eCPD” system will reduce administrative burdens for customs procedures, make border-crossing operations more secure, and further support global mobility.
Understanding the conditions of road crashes supports the assessment of how vehicles’ safety equipment performs, which can help to improve these systems to reinforce safety on the road. A new UN Regulation which entered into force on 30 September 2021 will introduce a major breakthrough in information gathering about road crashes with the introduction of Event Data Recorders (EDR) aboard vehicles.
Ensuring that children in Paraguay have safer ways to get to and from schools; strengthening the medical post-crash response in Bangladesh; developing streets for safer and low-carbon mobility of pedestrians and cyclists in East Africa; and strengthening road safety data management and policy design in the Arab region are some of the goals of the 10 new projects financed by the United Nations Road Safety Fund (UNRSF).
UNECE’s new Transport Statistics Infocard offers a new, user-friendly country-by-country perspective on important transport topics that are needed to inform policy decisions: road safety, numbers of cars and length of railways, alternative fuel use and public transport.
Habtamu Zerihun is a 38-year old father to three daughters, aged 4, 6 and 12 years. Habtamu used to be a construction worker in and around Addis Ababa, until he was hit by a pickup on his walk to work. The pickup driver was under the influence of stimulant drugs and there were no adequate protective barriers around the curbs.
Countries of Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe have been hit hard by the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which threatens to derail sustainable development progress in the region.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the European Investment Bank, the financial investment arm of the European Union, have signed today a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen joint efforts to promote economic cooperation, cohesion and to support countries in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).