United Nations
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The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), based in Geneva, Switzerland, promotes sustainable development within the energy sector and facilitates international economic cooperation to achieve this goal. With UNECE member countries accounting for 38% of global coal production and 40% of global CMM emissions, promoting capture and use of CMM is a key pillar of the UNECE's program. The work on CMM is carried out under the auspices of Group of Experts on Coal Mine Methane, which was launched by the UNECE in December 2004. Group of Experts participation is open to all who are interested – including government organizations, the private sector, not-for-profits, other international organizations, and individuals. The UNECE is also a Global Methane Initiative (GMI) Project Network member and actively supports the goals of the Initiative.
With EPA support, the UNECE is executing programs to promote the implementation of CMM recovery projects in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The goal of the joint program is to develop "bankable" CMM projects in Central and South-Eastern Europe and the CIS, leading to additional emission reductions.
Resources
- Best Practice Guidance for Effective Methane Drainage and Use in Coal Mines (February 2010) (PDF) (86 pp, 2 MB) Exit
- This document is also available in: Chinese (PDF) (86 pp, 3 MB) Exit, Mongolian (PDF) (96 pp, 2 MB) Exit, Russian (PDF) (107 pp, 3 MB) Exit, and Spanish (PDF) (85 pp, 3 MB) Exit.
- Final technical report: Project for the Development of Coal Mine Methane Projects in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (December 2008) (PDF) (33 pp, 415K) Exit
- Glossary of CMM Terminology (July 2008) (PDF) (8 pp, 62K) Exit
Organizations
For more information, please contact Charlotte Griffiths (charlotte.griffiths@unece.org) at UNECE or Felicia Ruiz (ruiz.felicia@epa.gov) at EPA.