Climate and Environment

Cyclone Amphan made landfall in eastern India on Wednesday afternoon local time.
WB State Inter Agency Group on Disaster Management.

Human activity the common link between disasters around the world

8 September 2021
Global

Disasters such as cyclones, floods, and droughts are more connected than we might think, and human activity is the common thread, a UN report released on Wednesday reveals.

Sunrise in Carchi Province, Ecuador. (September 2018)
WMO/Boris Palma

Blue sky thinking: 5 things to know about air pollution

7 September 2021
Global

Around 90 per cent of people go through their daily lives breathing harmful polluted air, which has been described by the United Nations as the most important health issue of our time. To mark the first International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, on 7 September, UN News explains how bad it is and what is being done to tackle it.

From shifting weather patterns that threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in scale.
WMO/Shravan Regret Iyer

Climate action essential to cool ‘season of fire and floods’ worldwide: Deputy UN chief 

6 September 2021
Global

With extreme weather events increasingly impacting countries across the world, the deputy UN chief on Monday underlined the importance of limiting temperature rise to the internationally agreed goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. 

COVID-related lockdowns brought cleaner air to many cities, like Seoul in South Korea.
Unsplash/Geonhui Lee

Air quality improvements from COVID lockdowns confirmed

3 September 2021

COVID-19 lockdowns brought rapid and “unprecedented” improvements in air quality in some parts of the world - but not enough to halt climate change caused by global warming, UN weather experts said on Friday.

Across the world, more incidents of extreme weather events are being recorded.
WMO/Daniel Pavlinovic

Climate and weather related disasters surge five-fold over 50 years, but early warnings save lives - WMO report

1 September 2021

Climate change and increasingly extreme weather events, have caused a surge in natural disasters over the past 50 years disproportionately impacting poorer countries, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) said on Wednesday.

The use of leaded petrol or gasoline ended globally in July 2021.
Unsplash/Sippakorn Yamkasikorn

End of leaded fuel use a ‘milestone for multilateralism’

30 August 2021
Global

The global phase-out of leaded fuel represents a “milestone for multilateralism”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, marking the end of a 20-year campaign to eliminate a major threat to the health of people and the planet.

In Indonesia many people rely on forest biodiversity for their livelihoods.
CIFOR/Ulet Ifansasti

Secretary-General calls for bold action to end biodiversity crisis

30 August 2021
Global

With one million species at risk of extinction, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday called for greater leadership and political will to end the biodiversity crisis.

An 'energy patriot' is supporting Bangko village in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, as part of a communal solar energy project.
Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT)

The ‘energy patriots’ bringing electricity to Indonesia’s remote villages

29 August 2021
Asia Pacific

For millions of villagers in Indonesia’s remote areas, a 12-hour-per-day erratic electricity supply is the norm. With students studying by candlelight at night and health centres not running at full capacity, these communities face an uphill struggle to improve their well-being. 

A farmer prepares to burn crop remnants in a field in Punjab, India.
© CIAT/Neil Palmer

FROM THE FIELD: Extinguishing the practice of crop burning

22 August 2021
Global

Around the world, people are preparing to choke their way through what is called ‘the season of smog’, when farmers burn their fields to make way for new crops. 

The community in Maroalomainty in the south of Madagascar has planted vegetation to mitigate the effects of climate change.
UN Madagascar

Climate change and hunger in Madagascar: a UN Resident Coordinator blog

21 August 2021
Africa

In the south of Madagascar, known as the Grand Sud, hundreds of thousands of people are suffering from one of the worst droughts in the region in 40 years, the most senior UN official in the country has said, warning that the population is facing a severe humanitarian crisis.