Commercial quality standards for agricultural produce are developed and approved by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe through its Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards. These international standards facilitate trade, encourage high-quality production, improve profitability and protect consumer interests. They are used by governments, producers, traders, importers and e…
Although the pandemic has had an impact on nearly everyone’s life, there have been particular concerns about the mental and physical health of the millions of young Europeans whose formative years have been marked by disruptions in their education and social activities. In several European countries such as Belgium, Estonia, France, Sweden and Norway, the share of young people reporting sympt…
Stimulated by the urgency of the Second World War, nuclear science progressed rapidly from the discovery of the neutron by Sir James Chadwick in 1932. Out of this basic knowledge came the discovery in 1939 that when atoms fission (i.e. are split), energy is released. This led in turn to the first controlled chain reaction (1943), the first atomic weapon (1945), and the first production of elect…
Time is running out to meet the Paris Agreement goal to limit global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Despite efforts by some regions to decarbonise, transport emissions will not fall fast enough, as transport demand will grow in the years to come. By 2050, passenger demand will increase by 79% under the Current Ambition scenario and freight demand will…
Environmental Performance Reviews (EPRs) provide an independent assessment and targeted recommendations aimed at improving policies that impact the environment. Most OECD countries have now been reviewed three times. OECD partner countries, such as Indonesia, Peru and Brazil, have recently been reviewed for the first time. Each EPR is organised in two parts. The first part, common to all review…
This Guide has been prepared by the UNECE Task Force on Poverty Measurement, which consisted of the following members: Giorgi Kalakashvili (National Statistics Office of Georgia), Bernd Becker (Federal Statistical Office, Germany), Nicoletta Pannuzi (Istat, Italy), Anna Szukiełoć‐Bieńkuńska (Central Statistical Office of Poland), Natalia Ignatova and Tatiana Velikanova (Rosstat, Russian F…
Digital transformation – the effects on economies and societies of digitisation and the use of interconnected digital technologies and data – is offering new opportunities across the world, and holds promises for enhanced productivity growth and improved well-being of all citizens. However, a significant gender gap in the access, use and ownership of digital technologies is still present in…