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Standards and regulations are an integral, if easily overlooked, part of our daily life. They determine whether a plug fits into a socket, whether food is safe for human consumption or whether a bank...

This report looks at the missing link to inclusive growth for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which are less productive relative to large firms in the developing world than in the developed world...

This year’s report focuses on regional trade, the most common form of trade for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It contains 50 country profiles, featuring detailed SME competitiveness...

This SME Competitiveness Outlook assesses the impact of conflict and fragility on business performance. It unveils a Fragility Exposure Index, and shows that fragility, as experienced by firms, can be...

Our services sectors are key to an economic transformation. This report calls them ‘connected services. Transport and logistics, financial services, information and communication technologies, and...

The SME Competitiveness Outlook 2021 analyses how small businesses can rebuild from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic so they are better prepared to face the looming crisis of climate change. It...

Increasing annual investments in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries by $1 trilling would yield disproportionate dividends in terms of progress towards the Sustainable...

New technologies like advanced robotics, 3-D printing, big data and the internet of things are rapidly changing the way in which firms do business. A strong business ecosystem is necessary to manage...

This publication is released at a time where the world is carefully moving out of the 'great lockdown' stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, a partial or complete lockdown of the majority of...

This publication discusses the scientific background of the African elephant and the effect of the ivory trade on its endangered population. A chapter on the counting of elephants provides the reader...

The value of this volume is the summary of the GEMS/Air assessment on the levels and effects of five of the most common and ubiquitous air pollutants: sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide...

The data in this fifth volume in the series of the UNEP/GEMS Environment Library provide a picture of levels and trends of food contamination over much of the globe. Contaminants such as lead, cadmium...

Polluted water has the potential for becoming a global threat. The GEMS assessment provides the first global picture of the state of much of the world's freshwater resources. It outlines the critical...

This volume deals with the effects of ozone depletion on human health and the environment, and outlines ways of reducing damage to the ozone layer. It discusses the effects of ultraviolet radiation on...

This technical document, written to be easily understood by those without technical qualifications, deals with the phenomenon of El Niño as it effects a reversal in the direction of winds and oceans...

Glaciers are important to the environmental health of the planet especially in the regulation of the Earth's heat balance. This volume presents the background and behaviour of glaciers, as they can be...

This volume summarizes the current state of knowledge on climate change and its possible consequences. It draws together scientific research on the enhanced greenhouse effect, global warming and...

Biodiversity describes the diversity of life on Earth encompassing all species of plants, animals and micro-organisms, their genetic material and the ecosystems of which they are part. This volume...

Good management of the world's freshwater resources depends on understanding their value and the major problems confronting them. This publication documents the state of the world's lakes and...

This volume summarizes the potential implications of climate change and variability on fisheries and on the societies that depend on them. It is based on a review of several fisheries case studies and...