In the framework of the Organic Agriculture component of the EC-funded “Greening Economies in the Eastern Neighbourhood” (EaP Green) Programme, producers and traders from Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine participated in one of the world’s leading Organic Trade Fairs, Biofach, taking place from 10-13 February in Nuremberg. Countries from Eastern Europe are increasingly exploring the sales opportunities of the growing EU organic market. The trade fair represented a unique opportunity for participants to exhibit their products and meet potential buyers from the European Union.

During the trade fair, UNEP and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) jointly organized a match-making event that provided a platform for Eastern European producers to meet with EU buyers. The session included the presentation of a report analyzing the status quo of organic sector development in Ukraine, Moldova, and Armenia and providing recommendations on promising export products and how to overcome existing trade barriers. The Organic Agriculture component of EaP-Green supports Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine in enhancing their capacity for production and trade in organic products and harnessing the opportunities linked to growing international organic markets. This will also help reverse environmental degradation, build natural capital, revitalize the countryside, create new and rewarding jobs, and expand and develop new businesses in the participating countries.

For more information: http://bit.ly/1wyifjL

On 3 February 2015, the Head of UNEP’s Liaison Office to the EU in Brussels Mr. Ulf Björnholm, joined the Members of European Parliament (MEPs), representatives of European and international organizations and businesses, research funders and leading researchers for a dialogue session at the European Parliament. The goal of this session was to identify strategic priorities for European research, particularly in light of a number of important new global agreements on climate, disaster risk reduction and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) expected in 2015 and for which scientific research will be critical for success.

In his address, Mr Björnholm underlined the ongoing key role of science in decision-making for our societies and the need for strong institutions to be able to translate the scientific findings to make them useful for decision-makers, as well as for science to be publicly available and up to date. Amongst others, he introduced UNEP Live, the new online platform for all to collect, process and share environmental science and research worldwide and explained that together with other UN agencies UNEP works to develop integrated indicators that will measure progress on SDGs. He also referred to UNEP’s role in spearheading the debate on how to adapt the financial system to sustainable development under the “Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System” initiative. This was welcomed by several members of the audience during the debate.

The event also saw the presentation by Future Earth of the Strategic Research Agenda, which urges the private sector, governments and civil society to work with researchers to co-design and co-produce a more agile global innovation system.

For more information: http://bit.ly/1AGI5By
http://bit.ly/1x42CKc

On 26 February 2015, the UNFCCC Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), hosted by UNEP and the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), organized a Breakfast Dialogue in the UN House in Brussels on how to improve the collaboration with the European Commission (EC) on accelerating climate technology uptake in developing countries. Representatives from several Directorates from the EC were actively participating in this event which was led by the CTCN Director, Mr. Jukka Uosukainen.

The purpose of the meeting was to give an update on recent activities of CTCN and look into the future challenges and opportunities on the road to the Paris meeting on a new climate agreement later this year.

Mr. Uosukainen explained how the CTCN assists the developing countries in implementing climate technology through fast-track application for economic support, provides technology assistance and knowledge sharing with interested parties, and ensures that projects are fully based on a country-driven approach.

The EU is an important supporter of the CTCN, and both sides expressed their appreciation of the collaboration as well as their willingness to continue the cooperation, while underlining the need for a broader donor-base. It was also underlined that further efforts are needed to improve South-South cooperation, and the important role that the CTCN has to play here. Participants also agreed that it is important to make the CTCN better known, in order to encourage additional requests for assistance from interested countries, especially in Africa and Asia, while avoiding overlaps of parallel projects.

For more information: alexa.froger@unep.org

The European Commission has recently approved the project proposal "ECOPOTENTIAL", submitted under the EU research programme "Horizon2020".

The main objective of this project led by the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) is to making Earth Observation and Monitoring Data usable for ecosystem modelling and services. This will also be done in selected Protected Areas in Europe, with a strong focus on mountain ecosystems, including a specific pilot site in the Carpathians. The project will make an important contribution to the work of the Group on Earth Observation (GEOSS) as well as UNEP Live.

UNEP is part of a 47 organizations-partnership, which include major organizations in Europe such as ESA, EEA, DLR and CNR. The total budget of the project is almost EUR 15 million. UNEP’s involvement and preparation in this project was led by the UNEP Regional Office for Europe in cooperation with GRID Geneva and involving also other GRID European centres in Warsaw and Arendal.

The "ECOPOTENTIAL" project is one of the first projects with UNEP involvement in the new Research Programme of the EU ("Horizon2020") that recently opened its calls. The new "Horizon2020" programme does not solely focus on research activities but also aims to support the application of the evidence gained in decision making.

Contact:
Matthias Jurek, matthias.jurek@unvienna.org

Thierry Lucas, thierry.lucas@unep.org

For more information: http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/