Climate and Environment

A face mask found during a beach cleanup in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, USA.
Unsplash/Brian Yurasits

Five things you should know about disposable masks and plastic pollution

30 July 2020
Global

The fight against plastic pollution is being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the use of disposable masks, gloves and other protective equipment soars, but UN agencies and partners insist that, if effective measures are put into place, the amount of plastics discarded every year can be significantly cut, or even eliminated.

Hundreds of wildfires have broken out in Siberia, some of which can be seen in this image captured from space on 28 July 2019.
ESA

Dramatic Arctic fires and sea ice melt, show need for urgent climate action

24 July 2020

“Exceptional and prolonged” temperatures in Siberia, have left parts of the Arctic warmer than sub-tropical Florida, and fuelled “devastating” wildfires for a second consecutive year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday, while warning also of rapidly decreasing sea ice along the Russian polar coast.

Papua New Guinea's rare cloud forests are a high elevation rainforest characterised by low-level cloud cover. (14 June 2011)
Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo

Deforestation has slowed down but still remains a concern, new UN report reveals

21 July 2020
Global

Although some 178 million hectares of forest has been lost worldwide over the past three decades, the rate of loss has declined substantially during this period, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Tuesday.

A woman and children use new handwashing facilities installed by UNICEF in Embratel, an informal urban settlement in Boa Vista, in northern Brazil.
© UNICEF/Yareidy Perdomo

World off track in meeting 2030 Agenda, UN deputy chief warns, calls for solidarity in COVID-19 recovery

16 July 2020

The world was off track in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, even before the COVID-19 crisis erupted, but can get back on course by increasing investment in public services, showing solidarity on financing, and “reshaping” how people work, learn, live and consume.

On 23 April 2020, a child washes dishes in the Maarat Misrin camp north of Idlib, Syrian Arab Republic.
© UNICEF/Omar Albam

Women and girls deserve more protection in emergencies, UN rights council hears

13 July 2020
Global

The collective impact of climate change, COVID-19 and conflict mean that well over 200 million people will likely need humanitarian assistance by 2022, the UN’s deputy rights chief said on Monday.

Junior, a teenage youth activist from Côte d’Ivoire, speaks via videolink to the UN Human Rights Council about protecting the environment.
UNHRC Video Screenshot

Youth activist speaks up for environmental protection at Human Rights Council

1 July 2020

At the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday, a teenager from Côte d’Ivoire has explained why protecting the environment matters so much.