Clear and unequivocal language on the phasing out of fossil fuels is the only way forward to prevent the human rights crisis that is caused by climate change.
This is the message from Benjamin Schachter, the UN human rights office Environment and Climate Change Team Leader, who is coordinating the OHCHR delegation at the COP28 climate conference, now underway in Dubai, UAE.
As the focus at COP28 turns to food and agriculture, the spotlight is on smallholder farmers in developing countries on the frontlines of climate change, clinging on to their livelihoods amid drought and floods.
Taking 5 per cent of global military expenditures and directing it towards education and the climate crisis, would free up $100 billion a year to respond to climate change.
Speaking to UN News on the sidelines of COP28 conference in Dubai, Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of the UN global fund for education, sent a strong message to countries as she launched an appeal for $150 million to empower teachers and millions of children affected by forced displacement and climate change.
The war has taken a huge toll on Gaza, leaving “everybody” grieving, said the Director of the UN Palestinian refugee support agency, UNRWA, in an interview with UN News on Friday.
Tom White warned that staffers are overwhelmed while people continue dying in and around some shelters, due to Israeli airstrikes, where they are seeking UN protection.
“We are essentially starved of the resources that we need to provide for people”, he told Abdelmonem Makki.
With global temperatures hitting record highs, and extreme weather events affecting people around the globe, this year’s UN climate change conference, COP28, is a pivotal opportunity to get on track and accelerate action to tackle the climate crisis.
Saying nowhere is safe in Gaza is not a cliché, according to UNICEF’s James Elder, speaking to UN News from Rafah in southern Gaza.
“That’s the message we keep trying to share”, he told Reem Abaza, just hours after the pause in fighting ended between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The UN children’s agency official said leaders’ enabling fighting to resume simply means the death of more and more children, noting that the only aid route at Rafah, is closed once more.
2023 is on track to be the hottest year ever and the last 10 years have proven to be the warmest decade so far. These are worrying trends that suggest increasing floods, wildfires, glacier melt and heatwaves, lie immediately ahead.
This is the warning issued by Petteri Taalas, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General, who spoke to UN News in Dubai, ahead of the launch of the agency’s provisional State of the Global Climate report on the opening day of COP28.
When it comes to mitigating loss and damage caused by climate change, the global response is often failing to keep pace, according to Gernot Laganda of the UN World Food Programme (WFP).
“We have had decades now where the temperature curve has really kept climbing, while adaptation financing was often too little, too late,” said the senior official.
Despite intense national efforts geared towards eliminating AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, the Deputy Executive Director for the UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Angeli Achrekar, says that so far, the “job isn't done.”
Ms. Achrekar, spoke with Pauline Batista from UN News as UNAIDS launched its latest report on Tuesday, Let Communities Lead.
It suggests the world can still end AIDS by the ambitious deadline, but only if communities on the frontlines get the full support they need from governments and donors.
