Participants at this meeting will consider the possible establishment of a joint Working Party on Forest Policy and Management as a subsidiary body under the Timber Committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the European Forestry Commission of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The session will gather high-level officials from the 56 UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) member States, the European Commission, international and European transport organizations and non-governmental organizations. One of the issues to be discussed at the meeting is climate change and transport, including the development of environmentally friendly and sustainable transport systems and the establishment of a new group of experts on the impacts of climate change on international transport networks.
This is the fourth meeting of the Task Force on Water and Climate of the UN Economic Commission for Eurpe (UNECE), which is responsible for activities related to adaptation to climate change, including flood and drought management, working in close cooperation with the Task Force on Extreme Weather Events established under the Protocol on Water and Health.
The workshop will be organized by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) under the Water Convention. It will bring together countries and other stakeholders to: exchange practical experience and share lessons-learned on the technical and strategic aspects of adapting to climate change; analyze the specific challenges of adapting water management to climate change in the transboundary context, identify best practices, success factors and lessons learnt; considering the different steps of developing an adaptation strategy: from the assessment of impacts and vulnerability to the selection of measures; exchange experience between the pilot projects on adaptation to climate change in transboundary basins under the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) as well as other similar initiatives; support governments, organizations and joint bodies engaged in the process of preparing national or regional adaptation strategies; and promote and discuss the implementation of the UNECE Guidance on Water and Adaptation to Climate Change.
The Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) aims to prevent, control and reduce transboundary impacts of water pollution; promote the ecosystem approach in the framework of integrated water resources management; ensure conservation and restoration of water-related ecosystems; promote payments for ecosystem services; and further adaptation to climate change in the transboundary context, including floods and droughts management. The main objective of the sixth meeting is to review the implementation of the workplan (ECE/MP.WAT/29/Add. 1).
14 February 2011: UN-Energy held a retreat on 10-11 February 2011, in Vienna, Austria, to define the group's priorities in preparation for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio 2012). The highlights of the retreat are reported in the weekly newsletter of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) for the period 14-18 February 2011.
10 February 2011: Hungary's Ministry of Rural Development, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and the International Water Assessment Centre (IWAC) organized a workshop on transboundary water cooperation in Central and Western Europe, in Budapest, Hungary, from 8-10 February 2011.
18 January 2011: The UN launched a report titled "World Economic Situation and Prospects 2011," which provides that fiscal policies, in tandem with income and structural policies, will need to be reoriented to foster job creation and green growth.
The Action Plan on the Role of the Forest Sector in a Green Economy is intended to provide policymakers with ideas for ways and means of improving and promoting the forest sector's contribution to a green economy. It could be presented to UNCSD as a practical contribution to greener economies in the ECE region.
The high-level segment of this UNECE Session will cover two main themes: “Economic integration in the UNECE region” and “The role of regional integration and cooperation for promoting sustainable development in the UNECE region,” with the latter focusing on transport and trade infrastructure, and energy cooperation.
| Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) |
|
| Conference Reporting Services (CRS) |
