This is the news in brief from the United Nations

UN chief appeals for ‘massive’ help for flooded Pakistan

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed to the world for “massive support” for Pakistan’s flood response after arriving in the country on Friday.

Both the Government and UN chief blamed climate change for record monsoon rains and the glacier melt in the country’s northern mountains that have triggered floods, killing more than 1,391 people.

Houses, roads, railway tracks, bridges, livestock, and crops have been swept away, and more than half a million people have been left homeless and living in tents.

The lives of nearly 33 million people have also been disrupted, according to the Government.

The trip comes less than two weeks after Mr. Guterres appealed for $160 million in emergency funding to help those affected by the floods that have caused at least $10 billion in damages.

During his two-day visit, the UN chief will meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and tour affected areas.

WFP steps up assistance for communities affected by Pakistan floods 

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up its emergency response to reach 1.9 million people affected by Pakistan’s monsoon floods. 

While 400,000 people have already been reached with food assistance, WFP Pakistan spokesperson Rathi Palakrishnan warned that “longer-term support” is needed to restore livelihoods and help build resilience against future shocks.

Once the initial relief response is concluded, WFP will immediately implement recovery programmes to improve community infrastructure, boost resilience, and offer cash-based transfers through early 2023.

The originally planned $34 million request, launched in a UN flash appeal in August, must now be scaled up to $152 million to meet the expanded needs, WFP said in a statement.

Europe records its hottest summer in history, says WMO

Europe has experienced its hottest summer and hottest August on record, the UN weather agency said on Friday.

Temperatures in August were 0.8°C above the records set that same month in 2018, Clare Nullis, World Meteorological Organization (WMO) spokesperson said in Geneva.

The entire summer was also 0.4°C warmer than the 2021 record, she added.

In addition to Europe, central and eastern China also experienced heatwaves throughout all three summer months.

Globally it was the joint third warmest on record, according to data from the European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Moreover, last August was generally drier than average in much of western and parts of eastern Europe.

And wildfires across Europe over the summer caused the highest emissions since 2007, and the heat, drought and low snowpack after winter “has shifted the realities for Alpine glaciers,” warned Ms. Nullis.

Citing the Pakistan Meteorological Department, she added that Pakistan also saw particularly severe conditions with record-breaking rainfall in August. 

Katy Dartford, UN News Geneva.