The St Kitts Nevis Observer
A new initiative to support Latin America and the Caribbean in the transition to a circular economy as part of the COVID-19 recovery has been launched.
The Regional Coalition on Circular Economy was announced during a virtual side event at the XXII Meeting of the Forum of Ministers of Environment of the region, hosted by Barbados and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).
The Coalition will support access to financing by governments and the private sector, with special emphasis on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in order to promote resource mobilization for innovation and the implementation of specific projects in the region.
UNIDO
As part of the Global Quality and Standards Programme (GQSP) designed to encourage systematic trade development along specific value chains, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) will support Costa Rica in achieving compliance with the European Union regulations and quality standards. A project document concerning the related intervention was signed today by LI Yong, Director General of UNIDO, and the Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to UNIDO. The signing was witnessed by the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to UNIDO.
The two-year intervention has an overall budget of EUR 320,000 and will include activities aimed to enhance traceability, laboratory capacities, and private sector abilities to comply with international quality standards. The main national counterpart is the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica (COMEX), while other counterparts include the National Animal Health
Story by Jenny Larsen
The Cuban government recently announced that its Soberana II vaccine against COVID-19 will soon enter Phase III trials, bringing the country one important step closer to producing Latin America’s first vaccine against the virus. Far from being an overnight success, Cuba’s ability to develop a vaccine is the result of decades-long investment in its biopharmaceutical industry, which in its early stages of development was supported by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
Cuba hopes to inoculate its entire population against COVID-19 with a home-grown vaccine this year. The country has four potential vaccines in development, the most advanced of which – Soberana II – is due to start Phase III trials in March with 150,000 volunteers. If it clears this final clinical hurdle, the Cuban vaccine will be the first to be developed in Latin America.
VIENNA, 4 February 2021 – The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has released a new publication on the Organization’s work in the area of South-So
The GreenPro label is promoting sustainable construction
As the country targets an ambitious 10-plus billion sqft of green building footprint by 2022, green building materials will be much in demand.
G Raghupathy, Deputy Director General, CII, and Chairman of the Asia Pacific Network of the World Green Building Council, estimates demand for credible green products and technologies would touch ₹18 lakh crore by 2025.
The green building initiative in India is largely driven by the CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre in Hyderabad. It has over 6,287 green building projects coming up with a footprint of over 7.75 billion sqft. All these are registered with the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) and is one of the largest green building footprints in the world.