In addition to the global challenges surrounding climate, security and the raging COVID-19 pandemic, the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on Saturday drew the attention of the 76th UN General Assembly to devastating volcanic eruptions and the on-rushing Atlantic Hurricane season confronting his small-island developing State (SID).

Announcing the donation of up to 60 million COVID-19 vaccines to the UN-led COVAX facility, Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s Prime Minister, said that his country is determined to lead the global efforts to end the pandemic.

How can the world come together to radically change the way it produces and uses energy, as part of efforts to hold back climate change and to ultimately give humanity a more secure future on planet earth? That’s the question that over one hundred countries, organizations and businesses will be discussing at the United Nations on Friday at the High-level Dialogue on Energy, the first meeting of its kind in 40 years.

Two decades after a landmark declaration was adopted to eradicate racism, discrimination continues to “permeate institutions, social structures and everyday life in every society”, the UN chief told a high-level meeting on Wednesday.