Climate and Environment

A beehive in Domino Park in Brooklyn, New York City.
Hazel Plunkett

First Person: Gardening is ‘political’ says Irish celebrity horticulturist

16 May 2021
Global

For Diarmuid Gavin, a renowned Irish gardener and TV personality, horticulture has a role to play in all contemporary affairs, from the Black Lives Matter Movement to the ongoing pandemic, because “everything is connected, and everything is political”.

Arctic terns nest at Jökulsárlón in Iceland.
Jakub Fryš

Climate change threatens winged harbinger of spring

7 May 2021
Global

A sure sign of spring in northern Europe is the arrival of the Arctic tern bird, but ahead of the UN’s World Migratory Bird Day  experts fear the warming of the oceans in its nesting grounds in the northern Atlantic is threatening its very existence. 

National governments are the main drivers of change to reduce harmful emissions.
Unsplash/Daniel Moqvist

Cut methane emissions to avert global temperature rise, UN-backed study urges

6 May 2021
Global

Methane emissions caused by human activity can be reduced by up to 45 per cent this decade, thus helping to keep global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change, according to a UN-backed report published on Thursday. 

An oil platform in the Caspian Sea. Petroleum plants that process oil products can prove an increased cancer risk to those working there, or living nearby, a new IARC study shows.
Фото ООН

Increased cancer risk for petroleum industry workers and people living near plants: New UN study

29 April 2021

People working in the petroleum industry or living near petroleum facilities are at increased risk of developing several different cancer types, according to a new report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARCWHO), part of the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

UN Resident Coordinator Didier Trebucq, along with Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and other UN agency officials, travel to the danger zones to assess the impact of La Soufrière volcano eruption in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
UN Barbados OECS/ Bajanpro

ECOSOC chief calls for financial support for small island developing states

23 April 2021

Small island developing states (SIDS) must receive financial and international support if they are to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters, the President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Munir Akram, said on Friday. 

Climate youth activist Marie Christina Kolo of Madagascar.
© Rakotondrazafy A. M. Ny Aina

First Person: ‘Youth won’t stay silent’ says Madagascar climate activist

22 April 2021
Global

Young people around the world “won’t stay silent” about the global climate crisis according to a youth activist from Madagascar. 

International Mother Earth Day is celebrated annually on 22 April.
CIFOR/Ollivier Girard

Commit to restoring the planet, UN chief says in message for International Mother Earth Day

21 April 2021
Global

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for commitment to restoring the planet, and to making peace with nature, in his message to mark International Mother Earth Day, celebrated annually on 22 April. 

A turtle swims in the ocean in Martinique in the Caribbean.
Coral Reef Image Bank/Michele Roux

Ocean benefits increasingly undermined by human activity, UN assessment reveals

21 April 2021
Global

Greater understanding of the ocean is essential if the world is to recover better from the COVID-19 pandemic and achieve agreed targets on sustainable development and climate action, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday in launching a major study on what he called “the life support system of our planet.” 

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva and US Climate Envoy John Kerry discuss climate action on the CNN news channel
IMF

Green transformation will rival industrial revolution: US climate envoy

18 April 2021
Global

The transition to a global economic model which will slow down climate change and create jobs will be the “biggest economic transformation since the industrial revolution” according to John Kerry, the US climate envoy.

Cities across the globe share concrete efforts to accelerate the transformation towards a resilient and decarbonized society.
Unsplash/chuttersnap

Guterres urges cities to embrace ‘generational opportunity’ for climate action, sustainable development

16 April 2021
Global

The United Nations Secretary-General, on Friday, called for a “revolution” in urban planning and urban transport to beat back impacts of climate change and build a green and sustainable future for all.