Global

The Sustainable Development Goals are a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.
© UNDP

ECOSOC President champions optimism ‘against all odds’ at key UN development conference

5 July 2022
SDGs

Harnessing partnerships to create a world of “peace and prosperity” that protects people and planet, is the main goal of a key annual development forum that started on Tuesday, the President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Collen Kelapile, has said.

"Racism is a Virus" sign at a Black Lives Matter protest in Montreal, Canada.
Unsplash/Rolande PG

2030 development agenda ‘fails’ on racial equality and non-discrimination

5 July 2022
Human Rights

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are characterized by a “shallow commitment” to racial justice and equality, an independent UN-appointed rights expert told the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday, adding that they fail to address systematic racism and xenophobia. 
 

A woman walks through water in an area affected by flooding in East Jakarta, Indonesia.
© UNICEF/Arimacs Wilander

What COVID-19 taught us about risk in a complex, inter-connected world

2 July 2022
Climate and Environment

A new UN report has shed fresh light on the ways that the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed cascading risks, particularly on vulnerable people, worldwide.

The Red Sea's reef is one of the longest continuous living reefs in the world.
© Unsplash/Francesco Ungaro

UN Ocean Conference ends with call for greater global commitment to address dire state of the ocean

1 July 2022
Climate and Environment

Following a week of discussions and events in Lisbon, Portugal, the UN Ocean Conference concluded on Friday, with governments and heads of state agreeing on a new political declaration to Save Our Ocean.

According to the World Health Organization, Thailand's roads are the deadliest in Southeast Asia with the ninth-highest rate of road fatalities in the world.
Unsplash/Connor Williams

Save lives, support development, and ‘steer our world to safer roads ahead’: Guterres 

30 June 2022
SDGs

Road traffic accidents claim nearly 1.3 million lives each year, cost some countries up to three per cent of their annual GDP, and are the biggest killer of five to 29-year olds globally, the UN General Assembly President told a High-level Meeting on Improving Global Road Safety on Thursday.

An ocean scientist conducts research while diving in American Samoa.
© Ocean Image Bank/Shaun Wolfe

Scientific knowledge essential for sustainable oceans, UN Ocean Conference hears

30 June 2022
Climate and Environment

Increasing scientific knowledge, developing research capacity and making the most of new marine technology, are essential to sustainable ocean management, the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, heard on Thursday.

An indigenous woman walks her bicycle in Guatemala.
UN Women/Ryan Brown

Safer roads, a global development challenge for all: Senior UN official 

29 June 2022
Health

Every 24 seconds someone is killed in traffic, making safety on the world’s roads a global development challenge for all societies, especially for the most vulnerable, a senior UN official has said, ahead of the first ever High-level General Assembly Meeting on Improving Road Safety.  

Local fishermen haul in their catch of sardines on the coast of Nui Chua National Park in Viet Nam.
UNEP/Lisa Murray

A visionary ‘blue transformation’ strategy to enhance underwater food systems

29 June 2022
Climate and Environment

Record levels of fisheries and aquaculture production are making a critical contribution to global food security, the UN Ocean Conference under way in Lisbon, Portugal, heard on Wednesday.

Seagrass meadows - expanses of green, grass-like shoots and flowers - are a hugely effective nature-based solution to climate change.
© Unsplash/Benjamin L. Jones

Sustainable blue economy vital for small countries and coastal populations

28 June 2022
Climate and Environment

With the livelihoods of about 40 per cent of the world’s population living at or near a coast, the second day of the UN Ocean Conference under way in Lisbon focused on strengthening sustainable ocean-based economies, managing coastal ecosystems.

Cannabis legalization in parts of the world appears to have accelerated daily use and related health impacts, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s World Drug Report 2022.
© Unsplash

UN drug report shines light on cannabis, cocaine and methamphetamine trends

27 June 2022
Health

Legalized cannabis use in some countries and states appears to have accelerated daily use and related health impacts, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealed in a new report released on Monday.