UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe)

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) was established in 1947 by ECOSOC. It is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations:

1.  Economic Commission for Europe;
2.  Economic Commission for Africa (ECA);
3.  Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP);
4.  Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC);
5.  Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).

As a multilateral platform, UNECE facilitates integration and cooperation between its member countries and promotes sustainable development and economic prosperity through:

• political dialogue;
• negotiation of international legal instruments;
• preparation of regulations and standards;
• exchange and implementation of best practices as well as economic and technical skills;
•  technical cooperation for countries with economies in transition.

UNECE contributes to strengthening the effectiveness of the United Nations through the regional implementation of the results of the UN global conferences and summits. It focuses on the UN's global economic mandates, in partnership with other global players and key stakeholders, especially the business community. UNECE also establishes norms, standards and conventions to facilitate international cooperation within and outside the region. It includes 56 Member States in Europe, North America and Asia^[1]. All interested United Nations Member States can participate in the work of the UNECE. Over 70 international professional organizations and other non-governmental organizations take part in the activities of the UNECE.

UNECE CEP - Committee Environmental Policy

The CEP - Environmental Policy Committee - is the general governing body of UNECE environmental activities and a multilateral forum for environmental cooperation in the ECE region. It was established in 1994 and Italy is a member through the MASE, DG AEI.

The work of the CEP is based on the following strategic pillars.

• Acting as the secretariat for the “Environment for Europe Process” and participate in the regional promotion of Agenda 21.
• Preparation and implementation of environmental performance analysis in UNECE countries that are not members of the OECD.
• Supervising the activities of the UNECE in the fields of environmental monitoring, evaluation and reporting.
• Increase the overall effectiveness of UNECE multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and facilitate the exchange of experiences on the implementation of MEAs.
• Participate and/or facilitate the exchange of experiences in a range of cross-sectoral activities undertaken under the guidance of UNECE (eg. Education for Sustainable Development, Transport, Health and Environment, Green Building), or in collaboration with other organizations (e.g. Initiative for security, European process for the environment and health).

The CEP supports the Secretariat in the Environment for Europe Process, participates in the regional promotion of Agenda 21, facilitates the exchange of experiences in a series of cross-sectoral activities undertaken under the leadership of UNECE (e.g. transport, health and environment) or in collaboration with other organizations (e.g. Environment and Safety Initiative, European Environment and Health Process).

Environment for Europe

The "Environment for Europe" process is a multilateral partnership within the UNECE region, other intergovernmental organizations, regional environmental centers, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and other groups. The process and its ministerial conferences provide a high-level platform for stakeholders to discuss, decide and pool efforts to address environmental priorities in the 56 countries of the UNECE region and is a regional pillar of sustainable development.

The ninth EfE Conference will take place in Cyprus in 2022. The two themes chosen for the 2022 conference are:

1. making the economy greener in the pan-European region: working for sustainable infrastructure;

2. apply the principles of the circular economy to sustainable tourism.

In the course of 2021, the background documents that will guide the work of the Conference will be elaborated.

The EFE Conferences are organized on the basis of the provisions of the Environmental Reform Plan for Europe, adopted in 2009, and according to the procedures adopted in 2014 for the subsequent Ministerial Conference of Batumi (2016).

The Eighth Ministerial Conference on Environment for Europe took place in Batumi, Georgia, in 2016. Two themes were addressed in 2016: "Making the economy greener in the pan-European region"; and "Improving air quality for a better environment and human health". In addition, a segment on education for sustainable development was organized during the conference.

The main results of the 2016 Conference were: the Batumi Ministerial Declaration; the Pan-European Strategic Framework for Greening the Economy and its Batumi Green Economy Initiative (BIG-E); Batumi's action on cleaner air (BACA); the Batumi Ministerial Declaration on education for sustainable development and the framework for the future implementation of the UNECE strategy for education for sustainable development.

The next conference will take place in Cyprus in 2022.

UNECE EPR - Environmental Performance Review

The EPR program is based on the CEP deals with the elaboration of analyses of the environmental contexts of the countries subject to revision, with the drafting of a series of useful recommendations for multi- and bilateral cooperation and of implementing the SDGs.

The EPR assists and supports ECE member countries in improving their environmental management and performance; promotes the exchange of information on policies and experiences between countries; helps in the integration of environmental policies in economic sectors; promotes greater accountability to the public; strengthens cooperation with the international community and contributes to the achievement and monitoring of the relevant Sustainable Development Goals.

An EPR is an assessment of a country's progress in reconciling its environmental and economic goals and respecting its international environmental commitments. As a voluntary exercise, the EPR is undertaken at the request of the country under review.

The EPR process consists of the following main phases: preparation, review mission, expert review, peer review, publication and launch.

The efficiency and effectiveness of the EPR methodology has attracted the attention of countries outside the UNECE region, leading to requests for transfer of know-how from the ECE to other UN regional commissions. Morocco was reviewed by the UNECE in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Africa and Mongolia, in collaboration with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

DGCreSS participates in the EPR program through a technical expert involved both in the drafting of some EPRs (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Morocco - in progress online in 2020 due to pandemic) and in the peer review of the EPRs through participation in the EPR Expert Group.

UNECE HLM - Housing and Land Management

The UNECE Committee for Urban Development, Housing and Land Management, established in 1947, is the UNECE committe that deals with urban development and sustainable land management. The Committee meets annually and works to promote the implementation of the SDGs at the local level, with particular reference to sustainable urban systems. The MASE contributed to the elaboration and negotiation of the Geneva Charter on sustainable construction (2014).

[1] Albania, Andorra, Armenia Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia , Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uzbekistan.