The UN’s weather watchdog and partners committed on Thursday to a new initiative to ramp up observation and prediction technology that will help address the challenges of climate change, melting snow and ice, and water-related hazards.
If emissions from the maritime industry are not cut, we are headed for “an environmental disaster”, Isabelle Durant, the deputy head of the UN trade body, UNCTAD, told the Global Maritime Forum summit on Wednesday.
Protecting marine areas from over-exploitation and providing the people who have traditionally lived off the sea with a sustainable alternative livelihood does not come cheap, but in the Seychelles, a focus on financial instruments is making that task easier.
A recap of Thurday's main stories: Wireless technology could block life-saving weather forecasts; UN gears up for 75th birthday dialogue; polio close to eradication; UN steps up northeast Syria aid; "unique opportunity" for end to Sudan-South Sudan border disputes.
Amid growing competition for radio wave space due to new wireless technologies, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Thursday called on governments to protect radio frequencies allocated to potentially life-saving weather forecasting services.
With Typhoon Hagibis causing destruction and loss of life in Japan, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has praised the leadership role the country is playing in climate resilience, and its “extensive and efficient preparation for this latest extreme weather event”.
There is a strong economic case for climate resilience and reducing the risk of disasters, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a message to mark the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, which falls on Sunday.
People across the world need to embrace “fundamental change” in order to combat climate change and meet the target of restricting the increase in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius, Claudio Forner, from UN Climate Change in Bonn, told UN News in an interview that took place following the Climate Action Summit.
Saturday marks World Migratory Bird Day which, this year, is raising awareness about the serious threats that plastic pollution poses to bird life, with a call for urgent measures to end the problem.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched a $10 million appeal to assist The Bahamas as the country continues to recover from the devastation brought on by Hurricane Dorian just over a month ago.
