Demand for raw materials used in the production of electric car batteries is set to soar, prompting the UN trade body, UNCTAD, to call for the social and environmental impacts of the extraction of raw materials, which include human rights abuses, to be urgently addressed.
New records for extreme lightning bursts, or ‘megaflashes’, during 2019, have been made official, more than doubling the size and duration of the previous record flashes, the UN’s weather agency, WMO, announced on Thursday.
Reports that temperatures in a Russian town in the Arctic Circle likely reached a record 38C (100.4F), last weekend, have been approved by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) pending final verification, it said on Tuesday.
Living in the African mountain kingdom of Lesotho comes with its fair share of challenges, including land degradation and climate change, which are upending traditional farming practices.
The UN Secretary-General has called for “a new contract for nature” to address ongoing global challenges connected to land degradation, such as forced migration, hunger and climate change.
As the diverse and severe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be felt across the world, an “unparalleled economic shock” is putting development gains at risk, the UN chief told a meeting of high-powered business leaders on Wednesday.
Back in September, the world committed to a landmark political declaration on universal health coverage. Now, in the throes of the COVID-19 crisis, the President of the UN General Assembly has reiterated the importance of investing in health as “an investment in human capital, social and economic development and the empowerment of all people”.
People living on an isolated island community in the Pacific Ocean are finding ways to reduce their dependence on expensive imported food while promoting climate resilient farming techniques, thanks to a programme supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
With the climate crisis threatening coral reefs around the world, a researcher in Hawaii is part of a team pioneering new techniques to preserve living coral sperm and larvae, and ultimately save the biodiversity and genetic diversity of coral reefs not just in Hawaii but across the world.
On this year’s World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5, the UN is drawing links between the health of the planet, and human health, and highlighting the importance of protecting biodiversity, the system that supports life.
