Connecting countries Driving progress Improving lives UNECE Supporting

Connecting countries Driving progress Improving lives UNECE Supporting the sustainable use of natural resources

56 Member countries on 3 continents Created in 1947 One of 5 UN Regional Commissions ECA + NY RC office ESCAP UNECE ECLAC ESCWA Total RCs 2018 -2019 Budget (RB) Staff K $ 157, 539 541 99, 570 419 61, 724 188 112, 450 481 73, 466 255 504, 749 1, 884 All interested UN Member States may participate in UNECE’s work

How do we work? UNECE is fully aligned with the 2030 Agenda, supporting member States to achieve the SDGs, in line with the GA decision on the UN Development System reform thanks to our: role as a platform for governments to cooperate and engage with all stakeholders on norms, standards and conventions unique intergovernmental convening power across the region and beyond – home to 58 UN transport conventions and 5 Multilateral Environmental Agreements Technical cooperation expertise • multisectoral, integrated approach • transboundary focus

What do we do? Strengths in high-impact “nexus” areas where the UN Development System as a whole is weakest: • Sustainable use and management of natural resources • Sustainable and smart cities • Sustainable mobility and smart connectivity • Measuring and monitoring SDGs You may be familiar with some of our work: • • Road safety GHS TIR Convention UN/CEFACT

Sustainable use of natural resources Unsustainable patterns of resource use Negative implications for: • • Climate change Health (air pollution) Biodiversity Waste Need for a transition to more efficient and cleaner economies A source of economic dynamism and new opportunities Large economic and social costs- now and in the future

An integrated approach UNECE supports countries’ progress towards more sustainable systems of consumption and production through a range of complementary approaches: Reducing negative environmental and social impacts, supporting shift to low carbon economy and climate action Promoting sustainable production and consumption and transition to circular economy Facilitating sustainable resource management

Linking economic and environmental measurement Building countries’ capacities to use the System of Environmental. Economic Accounting, measuring: • condition of the environment • contribution of the environment to the economy • impact of the economy on the environment Robust basis for analysis of the sustainable natural resource use Other key areas include: • climate change statistics • environmental indicators

Building capacities and commitment for sustainable forests Commitment to restore 2. 5 million ha from degraded land to healthy, productive forests Building political commitment and capacities of Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan • an additional 24% of forest land in the region • restored area the size of Sicily

Improving sustainable resource management Challenge not of availability but management of resources Hydro Energy Solar Energy Wind Energy UNFC offers a system applicable to all energy and mineral resources Bioenergy Geothermal Energy Anthropogenic Resources Use and development in EU, African Union, China, Russia, Mexico… Supporting development of comprehensive UN Resource Management System Injection Projects Uranium Oil & Gas Minerals Coal

Sustainable transport: a “driving force” in improving resource management UN vehicle regulations developed at UNECE enable more efficient and cleaner fuel technolgies Vital for both pollution prevention and decarbonization 2017: • 100 new/amendments to legally binding UN vehicle regulations • adoption of two UN Global Technical Regulations on electric cars and two-wheelers

Deadly air pollution Greatest single environmental health risk with 7 million deaths per year and leading cause of death by cancer Economic impact of US$ 1. 6 trillion per year in Europe alone Global air pollutionrelated health-care costs will increase from US$ 21 billion in 2015 to US$ 176 billion in 2060 Loss of life expectancy due to fine particulates (PM 2. 5)

UNECE’s Air Convention: delivering solutions 51 countries in Europe and North America are cooperating under UNECE’s Air Convention Emissions of a series of harmful substances reduced by 40 - 80% since 1990 in Europe and 3040% in North America • Used for EU emissions ceilings and monitoring • Increasing global interest

UN/CEFACT FLUX for Sustainable Fisheries – Why? More than 3 billion people with almost 20% of their per capita intake of animal protein depended on fish Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing valued at US$ 23 billion and about 26 million tonnes of fish per year A threat to fishing communities and ocean biodiversity Launch of Team of Specialists on Sustainable Fisheries Global Membership (EU, Australia, Brazil, China, Ghana, Japan, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Somalia, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, Uruguay)

Helping manage fisheries sustainably UN/FLUX - First communication tool to automatically collect and disseminate fishery catch data Monitoring of 85, 000 fishing vessels of 23 countries involved in fishery worldwide Concerns 5 million tonnes of fish annually Helps manage 470 fish stocks and quotas sustainably Provides reliable basis for ongoing negotiations on fisheries quotas and subsidies at the WTO

Thank you Ivonne Higuero Director, Economic Cooperation and Trade Division ivonne. higuero@un. org www. unece. org