Could studying the cosmos help us to fight the climate crisis? Two astronomers at the University of Hawaii think that knowledge of the solar system may help to slow down the warming of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Demand for raw materials used in the production of electric car batteries is set to soar, prompting the UN trade body, UNCTAD, to call for the social and environmental impacts of the extraction of raw materials, which include human rights abuses, to be urgently addressed.
As governments try to kick-start their economies, the UN is calling for recovery plans to be built around low-carbon technologies, to avoid a return to fossil fuel-based "business as usual".
Innovation and experimentation are helping a coffee farm in the US state of Hawaii to prosper in a competitive market, an approach which has helped the company to get through the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“Conversion therapy” is built on the false premise that it can alter the sexual orientation of gender diverse people, and many more countries around the world need to recognize its “dehumanizing” and deeply corrosive impact, according to a UN report that’s before the UN Human Rights Council this month.
With the Tokyo Olympics delayed until 2021, UN News has spoken to two recipients of Refugee Athlete Scholarships, an initiative of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and UN refugee agency (UNHCR), to find out how COVID-19 lockdown measures are affecting their preparations for the games.
UN chief António Guterres, has warned of an “unparalleled economic shock”, as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. So, going forward, can the private sector “build back better” to reorder the post-pandemic world, or, might the UN’s vision of a sustainable future be relegated to a low-priority aspiration? We put these questions to the CEO of one of the world’s largest conglomerates, who is working with the Organization, towards a better future.
Coral reefs are being killed by the climate crisis, which is leading to rising sea temperatures. “Cryopreservation”, a pioneering scientific technique, could be one way to help save them.
With the climate crisis threatening coral reefs around the world, a researcher in Hawaii is part of a team pioneering new techniques to preserve living coral sperm and larvae, and ultimately save the biodiversity and genetic diversity of coral reefs not just in Hawaii but across the world.
The virus of false information and fake news which has proliferated globally as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, has not spared the crisis-wracked South American country, Venezuela. But the United Nations there is countering the misinformation by making sure that Venezuelans receive trustworthy and reliable information about the deadly virus.
