Climate and Environment

Coastal and marine ecosystems provide food, livelihoods, and coastal protection to more than a billion people worldwide.
UNCTAD

‘Simply no scenario’ where humanity can survive on an ocean-free planet

1 June 2021
Global

The world must harness “clear, transformative and actionable solutions” to address the ocean crisis, the President of the UN General Assembly said on Tuesday, opening a meeting to generate momentum towards the 2022 UN Ocean Conference, when public health safety measures allow. 

A farmer works in a rice field in Bagré, Burkina Faso.
© FAO/Alessandra Benedetti

Free up ‘bottlenecks’ stifling Africa’s agri-food sector, urges FAO chief 

10 May 2021
Africa

The UN agriculture chief warned on Monday that severe underfunding of Africa’s agri-food sector has boosted food insecurity and was hampering the future development of countries across the continent. 

Peatland forests like this one in central Kalimantan, Indonesia, can store harmful carbon dioxide gasses.
CIFOR/Nanang Sujana

Guterres renews zero-emissions appeal to avoid falling into climate abyss

6 May 2021

All countries should commit to zero carbon emissions by 2050 if the world is to avoid a disastrous 2.4 degree Celsius temperature rise by the end of this century, UN Secretary General António Guterres said on Thursday.

Sunlight streams through a forest in Germany.
Unsplash/Sebastian Unrau

‘Make-or-break moment’ for forests

26 April 2021
Global

Forests are at the core of our efforts to restore our relationship with the natural world, the deputy UN chief said on Monday at the UN Forum on Forests. 

Refugees in Minawao, in northeastern Cameroon, plant trees in a region which has been deforested due to climate change and human activity.
© UNHCR/Xavier Bourgois

Climate change link to displacement of most vulnerable is clear: UNHCR

22 April 2021

Weather-related crises have triggered more than twice as much displacement as conflict and violence in the last decade, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Thursday.

IAEA observes the collection of sea water samples near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. 7 November 2013.
IAEA/David Osborn

UN atomic energy agency to work with Japan on Fukushima water disposal

13 April 2021
Asia Pacific

The International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA, said on Tuesday that it will work closely with Japan which is preparing to release a million tonnes of treated seawater used to cool the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Litter is removed from a beach in Watamu in Kenya.
UNEP/Duncan Moore

New project to help 30 developing countries tackle marine litter scourge

8 April 2021
Global

A UN-backed initiative aims to turn the tide on marine litter, in line with the global development goal on conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources. 

A lighthouse off the coast of Florida in the United States.
Coral Reef Image Bank/David Gros

Oceans under threat like never before, warns World Meteorological Organization 

22 March 2021
Global

Climate change has hit the world’s oceans hard, UN weather experts said on Monday, in a call for lifesaving monitoring and early warning services that were interrupted by COVID-19 to be ramped up again, to protect shipping and coastal communities at risk. 

A climate change demonstration in Erlangen, Germany.
Unsplash/Markus Spiske

Climate litigation spikes, giving courts an ‘essential role’ in addressing climate crisis

26 January 2021
Global

 A rise in climate litigation cases has made courtrooms increasingly important as a venue for addressing climate change around the world, according to a report released on Tuesday by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). 

2020 was the warmest decade on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
Unsplash/John Towner

2020, one of three warmest years on record: World Meteorological Organization 

14 January 2021
Global

The COVID-19 pandemic was not the only long-term crisis the world will remember from 2020. In terms of climate change, the year was also one of the three warmest on record, and rivalled 2016 for the top spot, the UN weather agency said on Wednesday.