UNECE – Safeguarding environmental management and human health
The overarching goal of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, UNECE, is to promote sustainable development in its 56 member countries. The Swedish EPA’s role is focused on implementing European environmental conventions.
The United Nations regional commissions have been set up in various regions of the world to foster cooperation on issues affecting their respective regions. Despite the name, the United States, Canada, and several countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus are also parts of the UNECE. All members strive to strengthening cooperation to protect and improve the environment, aiming at peace, stability, and continuous sustainable development in the ECE region. In this way, the commission will contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The broad aim of UNECE´s environment activities is to safeguard the environment and human health and to promote sustainable development in its member countries. Focus areas are:
- economic analysis
- environmental issues
- sustainable energy
- trade
- industry
- transport
- water issues
UNECE and the Swedish EPA
The UNECE Committee on Environmental Policy, CEP, seeks to encourage the adoption of common environmental policy and the formation of similar environmental legislation by member states. The Swedish EPA is the Swedish representative in the Committee on Environmental Policy. We also contribute to the work with the Programme on Environmental Performance Reviews of countries in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia.
Another priority area for the Swedish EPA within the UNECE is the implementation and development of European environmental conventions, for example:
- the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, LRTAP
- the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters
- the Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context
- the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes.
Ministerial conference 2022
In the past 30 years the UNECE has organised nine large environmental ministerial conferences, which have increasingly focused on addressing the environmental performance of former Soviet republics and the Balkan states. The Ninth Environment for Europe (EfE) Ministerial Conference took place in Nicosia, Cyprus, in October 2022. The themes for the conference were:
- Greening the economy in the pan-European region: working towards sustainable infrastructure
- Applying principles of circular economy to sustainable tourism.
Also, the Third High-level Meeting of Education and Environment Ministries was held to further promote education for sustainable development in the region.
To prepare for the ministerial conference, a special session of the Committee on Environmental Policy, CEP, was arranged in which the Swedish EPA participated. The session also adopted the environmental performance reviews of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Contact and more information
To learn more about the UNECE cooperation, send an email to Ninni Lundblad at ninni.lundblad@naturvardsverket.se.