Responsible Consumption and Production

The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) addresses classification and labelling of chemicals by types of hazards. It provides the basis for worldwide harmonization of rules and regulations on chemicals and aims at enhancing the protection of human health and the environment during their handling, transport and use by ensuring that the information about their physical, health and environmental hazards is available.

This report presents the usual review of the recent world food and agriculture situation with statistical material available to FAO staff not later than 30 July 1952.

In addition to the usual review of the recent world food and agriculture situation, each issue of The State of Food and Agriculture from 1957 has included one or more special studies of problems of longer-term interest. This year’s edition focuses on the review of agricultural employment in developing countries by region.

In addition to the usual review of the recent world food and agriculture situation, each issue of The State of Food and Agriculture from 1957 has included one or more special studies of problems of longer-term interest. This year’s edition focuses on rural non-farm income in developing countries.

In addition to the usual review of the recent world food and agriculture situation, each issue of The State of Food and Agriculture from 1957 has included one or more special studies of problems of longer-term interest. This year's edition focuses on the second postwar decade.

Le Système général harmonisé de classification et d’étiquetage des produits chimiques (SGH) décrit la classification et l’étiquetage des produits chimiques par types de danger. Il fournit une base pour l’harmonisation à l’échelle mondiale des prescriptions et réglementations applicables aux produits chimiques et vise à améliorer la protection de la santé humaine et de l’environnement au cours de la manipulation, du transport et de l’utilisation de ces produits en garantissant la disponibilité de l’information sur ses dangers physiques, pour la santé et pour l’environnement.

More than 500 million family farms manage the majority of the world’s agricultural land and produce most of the world’s food. We need family farms to ensure global food security, to care for and protect the natural environment and to end poverty, undernourishment and malnutrition. But these goals can be thoroughly achieved if public policies support family farms to become more productive and sustainable. This edition of the The State of Food and Agriculture analyses family farms and the role of innovation in ensuring global food security, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. It argues that family farms must be supported to innovate in ways that promote sustainable intensification of production and improvements in rural livelihoods. Innovation is a process through which farmers improve their production and farm management practices.

This report analyses information and communication about PSI. It provides an overview of the current state in the area of PSI, analyses the key trends, drivers and challenges in this field, and draws policy recommendations on how to facilitate better decision-making on the sustainability aspects of products.

This background note reviews current trends and projections of fish and seafood trade, and recent work undertaken to support implementation of the trade related activities of SDG 14, with a focus on the work of UNCTAD, FAO and UNEP. It flags the main issues encountered and sets the scene for the discussions of the Forum. It draws on the complementary experiences and mandates of UNCTAD, FAO and UNEPt to make recommendations to key stakeholders and propose innovative approaches and tools around the oceans/blue economy, value chain analysis, certification and eco-labelling to strengthen the capacity of developing countries in meeting the trade related targets of SDG 14.

This synthesis report acknowledges the many existing and cross-cutting opportunities to achieve development goals through the transformative force that urbanization represents. It also discusses the elaboration of targets, baselines and overall progress for selected indicators, placing special emphasis on partnership arrangement and opportunities for financing and scaling up activities and programmes. The report presents fresh data and new findings that help us understand our urban transitions and trends in these early years of the SDGs.

El “Manual de Pruebas y Criterios” contiene criterios y descripciones de métodos y procedimientos de prueba para la clasificación de mercancías peligrosas de acuerdo con las disposiciones de la Reglamentación Modelo, así como de los productos químicos que presentan peligros físicos de acuerdo con el SGA. El Manual complementa, por tanto, los reglamentos nacionales e internacionales desarrollados a partir de la Reglamentación Modelo o del SGA.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on reducing poverty have been met by many countries, yet many others lag behind and the post-2015 challenge will be the full eradication of poverty and hunger. Many developing countries increasingly recognize that social protection measures are needed to relieve the immediate deprivation of people living in poverty and to prevent others from falling into poverty when a crisis strikes. This edition of The State of Food and Agriculture 2015 makes the case that social protection measures will help break the cycle of rural poverty and vulnerability, when combined with broader agricultural and rural development measures.

De nouveaux éléments publiés dans le SOFI 2018 confirment une augmentation de la faim dans le monde : le nombre de personnes souffrant de la faim a augmenté au cours des trois dernières années, revenant aux niveaux d'il y a près de dix ans. De nombreuses formes de malnutrition sont évidentes dans de nombreux pays : l'obésité chez les adultes augmente alors même que des formes de dénutrition persistent. Les rapports soulignent que la variabilité du climat et les conditions climatiques extrêmes sont les principaux facteurs de cette hausse, de même que les conflits et les ralentissements économiques. Ceux-ci menacent d'éroder et d'inverser les progrès réalisés dans la lutte contre la faim et la malnutrition. Le SOFI 2018 dresse la liste des nouveaux défis à relever sur la route de la Faim Zéro, tout en définissant des actions urgentes et nécessaires à mener pour atteindre l'objectif d'ici à 2030.

Within the transport sector in Asia and the Pacific freight and logistics account for a significant portion of total energy use – in many countries upward of 40% – and a correspondingly large share of CO2 emissions. Furthermore, on account of economic development and population growth, the region is expected to face substantial increases in trade shares and, thus, freight volumes. Accordingly, some estimates suggest that in Asia, ton-kilometres from surface freight will increase by 261% from 2015 to 2050 accounting for over two-thirds of all surface freight globally. Against this background, the Review provides a data-supported overview and insight for policy makers towards accomplishing seamless intermodal freight transport connectivity across key economic, social and environmental dimensions.

This recommendation provides guidance on the functions, services and benefits of Single Submission Portals as well as potential types. It is accompanied with an Annex I on abbreviations, an Annex II on terms used and an Annex III with a questionnaire in view of establishing a repository of case studies. This recommendation explains the principle of Single Submission Portals, the potential stakeholders and the various services such systems can provide. These are all electronic, as the main purpose is to provide trade facilitation measures to economic operators and eventually to government authorities.

In addition to the usual review of the recent world food and agriculture situation, each issue of The State of Food and Agriculture from 1957 has included one or more special studies of problems of longer-term interest. This year’s edition focuses on the second United Nations development decade.

In addition to the usual review of the recent world food and agriculture situation, each issue of The State of Food and Agriculture from 1957 has included one or more special studies of problems of longer-term interest. This year’s edition focuses on the state of natural resources and the human environment for food and agriculture.

The 2016 Energy Balances contains energy balances for about 220 countries and territories, showing production, trade, transformation and consumption (by sector) in energy units for all energy products. The publications presents energy data for countries and areas in a format which shows the overall picture of the production, trade, transformation and consumption of energy products utilized in the region, published by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Such a format is useful in assessing and analysing supply and consumption patterns across both products and countries in detail on an internationally comparable basis.

This year's edition provides new estimates of the percentage of the world's food lost from production up to the retail level. It suggests that identifying and understanding critical loss points in specific supply chains – where considerable potential exists for reducing food losses – is crucial to deciding on appropriate measures. It also provides some guiding principles for interventions based on the objectives being pursued through food loss and waste reductions, be they in improved economic efficiency, food security and nutrition, or environmental sustainability.

This report presents the findings of a multi-year FAO study undertaken on over 900 farms in ten different countries that measured, using field data, benefits gained through the use of innovative farming practices designed to boost the resilience of farmers facing natural disasters. It makes the case that disaster risk reduction (DDR) measures in agriculture hold vast potential for improving damage prevention and impact mitigation at the local level, with immediate and palpable benefits to the lives of billions of people. Moreover, the study distinguishes between benefits of DRR practices in hazardous versus non-hazardous situations. This allows for the identification of “no-regret” options, where implementation makes good economic sense even when natural hazards are not at play. Considering the high uncertainty of future climate change and the occurrence of natural hazards, there is a compelling case for identifying no-regret options for disaster risk reduction on farms. The study ultimately contributes to the internationally agreed priority of enhancing the resilience of the planet’s most vulnerable communities to natural hazard-related disasters, and specifically to Priority 3 of the Sendai Framework. It creates a sound evidence base for stepping up investment in disaster risk reduction in the agriculture sector, as opposed to exclusively investing in disaster response, highlighting the critical importance of local action for achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Procurement usually prioritizes cost aspects; however, it is becoming increasingly important to consider an appropriate balance between financial, environmental and social considerations. This recommendation proposes an approach to both sustainable public-sector procurement as well as sustainable private-sector procurement. It provides key references in this area and offers a sample code of conduct in annex. The purpose of this document is to identify a minimal, common set of policies, standards and good practices that will allow buying corporations to comply with sustainability principles without burdening their MSME suppliers with additional administrative tasks that would go against the good principles of trade facilitation. From a methodological point of view, the concept of sustainability is conceived here according to an integrated perspective—encompassing environmental, social and economic impacts in order to avoid the limiting processes of “Greening the Economy”.

The 2018 edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture emphasizes the sector’s role in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, and measurement of progress towards these goals. It notes the particular contributions of inland and small-scale fisheries, and highlights the importance of rights-based governance for equitable and inclusive development. As in past editions, the publication begins with a global analysis of trends in fisheries and aquaculture production, stocks, processing and use, trade and consumption, based on the latest official statistics, along with a review of the status of the world’s fishing fleets and human engagement and governance in the sector. Topics explored in Parts 2 to 4 include aquatic biodiversity; the ecosystem approach to fisheries and to aquaculture; climate change impacts and responses; the sector’s contribution to food security and human nutrition; and issues related to international trade, consumer protection and sustainable value chains. Global developments in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, selected ocean pollution concerns and FAO’s efforts to improve capture fishery data are also discussed. The issue concludes with the outlook for the sector, including projections to 2030. As always, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture aims to provide objective, reliable and up-to-date information to a wide audience, including policy-makers, managers, scientists, stakeholders and indeed all those interested in the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

La migración es una realidad mundial en crecimiento que permite que millones de personas busquen nuevas oportunidades. Sin embargo, también plantea dificultades para los migrantes y para las sociedades, tanto en las zonas de origen como en las de destino. En este informe se analizan los flujos migratorios, tanto internos como internacionales, y la manera en que están vinculados con los procesos de desarrollo económico, cambio demográfico y presión sobre los recursos naturales. La atención se centra en la migración rural y sus variadas formas, así como en el importante papel que desempeña en los países en desarrollo y desarrollados. Además, en este informe se investigan las causas y los efectos de la migración rural y se destaca cómo influyen los contextos nacionales, en constante evolución, en las prioridades respecto a las políticas sobre el tema. Estas prioridades serán diferentes para los países que atraviesan crisis prolongadas, aquellos donde el empleo de los jóvenes de zonas rurales constituye un problema, los que experimentan transiciones económicas y demográficas, y los países desarrollados que necesitan trabajadores migrantes, en especial en respaldo de la agricultura y la economía rural.

In addition to the usual review of the recent world food and agricultural situation, each issue of The State of Food and Agriculture since 1957 has included one or more special studies on problems of longer-term interest. This year’s edition focuses on marine fisheries and the law of the sea.

This report documents many examples of best practices for increasing the resource efficiency of different sectors from countries around the world. Key findings show that policies and initiatives to improve resource efficiency and tackle climate change can reduce global resource extraction by up to 28 per cent globally in 2050, against the baseline. In addition to slower growth in resource extraction, such policy actions can also cut global greenhouse gas emissions by around 60 per cent, while also boosting the value of world economic activity by 1 per cent.

Este importante informe anual ofrece información actualizada sobre la prevalencia de la subalimentación en todo el mundo y el número absoluto de personas que padecen hambre, así como estimaciones más recientes de una serie de metas mundiales en materia de nutrición. La edición de este año, que se publicará el 15 de julio, examina el papel de las desaceleraciones y los debilitamientos de la economía en el aumento del hambre, y formula recomendaciones de política para proteger la seguridad alimentaria y la nutrición.

In addition to the usual review of the recent world food and agriculture situation, each issue of The State of Food and Agriculture from 1957 has included one or more special studies of problems of longer-term interest. This year’s edition focuses on problems and strategies in developing regions.

This study reviewed the achievements, and also the shortcomings, of 12 watershed management projects technically supported by FAO over the past decade, with a view to learning from experience. Unlike sectoral development approaches, watershed management involves examining the interactions among various natural processes and land uses and managing land, water and the wider ecosystem of the watershed in an integrated way. Watershed management is best carried out as a stepwise multistakeholder process. The review identified a sequence of steps that watershed management projects or programmes should ideally follow. The approach has demonstrated its effectiveness for responding to global challenges of water supply, land restoration, climate change adaptation, disaster risk management and fighting hunger. To meet these challenges, the next generation of watershed management projects and programmes must be implemented over longer time frames, and they require sustained and coordinated investment from the public and private sectors. The review identified the following areas for moving forward: institutional strengthening for improved watershed governance; watershed monitoring; capitalizing on increased data availability; knowledge sharing and learning; and strategic partnerships for joint action on the ground.

In addition to the usual review of the recent world food and agriculture situation, each issue of The State of Food and Agriculture from 1957 has included one or more special studies of problems of longer-term interest. This year’s edition focuses on livestock production.

Il y a près de trois ans, les dirigeants du monde approuvaient le Programme des Nations Unies pour le développement durable à l’horizon 2030 et ses 17 objectifs de développement durable (ODD), qui allaient devenir le cadre central d’orientation des politiques de développement du monde entier. La présente édition de La situation des forêts du monde s’attache à nous faire mieux comprendre comment les forêts et la gestion durable de celles-ci contribuent à la concrétisation de plusieurs de ces ODD. Il sera bientôt trop tard pour les forêts du monde: nous devons désormais travailler de façon intersectorielle, rassembler les diverses parties intéressées et agir vite. La situation des forêts du monde 2018 envisage les mesures qui pourraient être prises pour améliorer la contribution des forêts et des arbres et sans lesquelles il est difficile d’accélérer les progrès en direction des ODD. Il est devenu essentiel d’agir pour instaurer une collaboration plus efficace avec le secteur privé et de transformer le secteur forestier informel pour accroître les avantages économiques, sociaux et environnementaux qu’il procure. Il y a 70 ans, alors que la FAO achevait sa première évaluation des ressources forestières du monde, la préoccupation majeure était de savoir si l’offre de bois d’œuvre serait suffisante pour satisfaire la demande mondiale; aujourd’hui, nous sommes conscients que nos forêts et nos arbres présentent un intérêt bien plus grand à l’échelle de la planète. Pour la première fois, le rapport sur La situation des forêts du monde 2018 fournit une évaluation de la contribution des forêts et des arbres à nos paysages et à nos moyens d’existence. Cette publication vise à permettre à un public beaucoup plus large de comprendre en quoi les forêts et les arbres sont si importants pour les personnes, la planète et la postérité

This report presents international investment trends and prospects at global, regional and national levels, as well as the evolution of international production and global value chains. It analyses the latest developments in new policy measures for investment promotion, facilitation and regulation around the world, as well as updates on investment treaties, their reform and investment dispute settlement cases. It provides an overview of industrial policy models for countries at different development levels and the role of investment policies within each model. It analyses the investment policy implications of the new industrial revolution for high-, middle- and low-income countries and offers a toolkit for investment policymakers on how to use investment policies for new industrial development strategies.

While several rapidly industrializing developing countries have not seen a major slump in their growth by the recent economic and financial crises, UNCTAD’s Trade and Environment Review 2009/2010 (TER 09/10) focuses on the 140 plus low-income and least developed countries, which have not caused the economic, financial, climate and food crises, but have to bear the full brunt of these crises. The stress of the global financial crisis — as well as concerns about climate change and food prices — should be used by developing countries to shift towards clean growth. Because so little has been done in such nations huge gains can be realized in improving energy efficiency, enhancing sustainable agricultural methods, and stimulating the use of rural, off-grid renewable energy. But to make this progress happen, governments must eliminate market barriers and policies that prevent the flow of capital into these promising sectors.

For many countries, tourism provides a significant source of foreign exchange and foreign direct investment. If managed sustainably, tourism can make an important contribution towards conserving natural and cultural heritage resources, generating and distributing wealth equitably, empowering the disadvantaged, generating jobs and supporting infrastructure development. This guidance document, entitled “Responsible Food Purchasing: Four Steps Towards Sustainability for the Hospitality Sector”, will help food purchasers to understand better the importance to their business of responsible food purchasing, while providing practical advice and guidance to enable them to make the right decisions and choices. This guidance outlines an approach to integrating food sustainability into your business, with practical steps, checklists and tips reinforced by case studies that provide valuable learning from those already embarked on responsible food purchasing. The resources listed at the end of the document will enable you to explore the wider sustainability agenda further, as responsible food purchasing remains a rapidly evolving field.

In addition to the usual review of the recent world food and agriculture situation, each issue of The State of Food and Agriculture from 1957 has included one or more special studies of problems of longer-term interest. This year’s edition focuses on forest development and policy dilemmas.

In addition to the usual review of the recent world food and agriculture situation, each issue of The State of Food and Agriculture from 1957 has included one or more special studies of problems of longer-term interest. This year’s edition focuses on forestry and rural development.

The report takes stock of progress made by Mongolia in the management of its environment since 1987. It covers legal and policy frameworks, compliance assurance, greening the economy, environmental monitoring, public participation and education for sustainable development. It addresses issues specific to the country related to air protection, biodiversity conservation, as well as water, waste and land management. It also examines the efforts of Mongolia to integrate environmental considerations in its policies in the forestry and health sectors and highlights the progress achieved in the management of disaster risk associated with natural and man-made hazards. It provides substantive and policy analysis of the country’s participation in international cooperation on the environment.

Los nuevos datos del SOFI 2018 confirman un aumento del hambre en el mundo: el número de personas que padecen hambre ha crecido en los últimos tres años, volviendo a niveles de hace casi una década. Las múltiples formas de malnutrición son evidentes en muchos países: la obesidad en los adultos está creciendo incluso a pesar de que persisten formas de desnutrición. Los datos muestran que la variabilidad y los extremos climáticos se encuentran entre los factores clave de este incremento junto con el conflicto y las recesiones económicas, y amenazan con erosionar y revertir los avances logrados en la erradicación del hambre y la malnutrición. El SOFI 2018 revela nuevos desafíos en el camino hacia el Hambre Cero, al tiempo que establece las acciones urgentes necesarias para lograr el objetivo para 2030.

In addition to the usual review of the recent world food and agriculture situation, each issue of The State of Food and Agriculture from 1957 has included one or more special studies of problems of longer-term interest. This year’s edition focuses on food security.

The Trade and Environment Review 2016 addresses the matter of harmful incentives, primarily in terms of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and fisheries subsidies, as an important part of the toolkit to restore fish populations, foster sustainable fisheries and deliver substantial economic and social gains. The Review proposes developing an overarching traceability system of traded fish from vessel to final consumer, as key to arresting and eliminating IUU fishing, but notes the requirement for major upgrading of institutional and technical implementation capacities, which may be difficult for some countries with fewer financial resources. On subsidies, there should be full transparency and disclosure of all fisheries subsidies, which should be classified in order to identify and distinguish those that are harmful or not. Efforts to discipline capacity-enhancing subsidies should be exerted at the national, regional and global levels of governance and, given previous intransience on this issue, a group of countries in partnership with organizations such as the WTO, UNCTAD and the FAO could stimulate collective actions with bottom-up voluntary commitments to subsidy reform.

This edition of the Review focuses on environmental and related health requirements and their impact on developing countries’ market access. It examines both the opportunities and challenges presented by these requirements. It also includes both general and sectoral analyses of the issue, and looks at two sectors where environmental requirements are critical to market access: electrical and electronic equipment and organic agricultural products. The Review also provides an overview of recent UNCTAD technical cooperation and capacity building activities in the area of trade and environment.

Cette publication met l’accent sur l’utilisation du bois comme source d’énergie et présente les statistiques les plus récentes sur les marchés du bois-énergie dans la région de la CEE. Son objectif est de communiquer la pertinence du bois-énergie dans la région et de contribuer à rapprocher les informations sur les secteurs forestier et énergétique. Il a également pour objectif de fournir certaines des meilleures informations disponibles sur le rôle que l’énergie du bois peut jouer dans divers secteurs pour appuyer les stratégies environnementales, énergétiques et socio-économiques menant à une économie plus verte.

This publication highlights the use of wood for energy and includes the most recent statistics on wood energy markets across the UNECE region. It aims to communicate the relevance of wood energy in the region and help bridge information about the forest and energy sectors. It also intends to offer some of the best-available information on the role that wood energy can play in various sectors to support environmental, energy, and socio-economic strategies toward a greener economy. It focuses on commercial wood energy uses in the UNECE including energy generated for cooking, heating and electricity generation.

This publication shows significant growth in sustainability markets. Offering a pathway to formalizing the reporting process, with a view to making data on sustainable markets more accessible to all, it provides a market data survey on Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS). The first section constitutes an overview of the VSS surveyed, including a short description and key data. Section two includes production-related data for key global sustainability standards across nine commodity sectors – bananas, cocoa, coffee, cotton, forestry, palm oil, soybeans, cane sugar and tea – and addresses each product's serious sustainability challenges, such as child labour, water scarcity, workers’ rights, use of chemicals, and more. Demonstrating ITC's support for "good trade" that contributes to environmental and social sustainability for producers and consumers, the report provides transparency by summarizing those challenges and by noting which standards initiatives are gaining traction.

Countries in the Asia-Pacific region are confronted by a series of challenges in securing their energy needs into the future, and power grid interconnection offers a significant part of the solution. Connectivity enables a range of technical, economic, social and environmental benefits while potentially reducing system vulnerabilities and improving energy security. This report presents a strategy towards the creation of a region-wide electricity market built on a unified grid. It provides contextual analyses of the benefits and challenges to grid interconnection, outlines the current status of existing connectivity efforts, and investigates the functions of institutions in promoting regional power connectivity. It offers a roadmap consisting of nine strategies, suggesting key milestones, timeframes and responsible entities for each. These strategies were presented to the Second Session of ESCAP’s Committee on Energy in October 2019 and the Road Map was presented to the 76th session of the Commission in May 2020.

Amendment to the fourth revised edition of the Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods: Manual of Tests and Criteria. This publication presents a compilation of the various tests and criteria that enable the competent authority to classify explosive substances and articles. It focuses on the classification procedures, test methods and criteria relating to explosives, self-reacting substances, organic peroxides, liquid desensitized explosives, flammable liquids and oxidizing substances.