Climate and Environment

Conservation and sustainable use can work together to protect the plants and animals living in forests.
©UNEP/Jessica Kerr

Shrinking forests need bold action to safeguard their biodiversity

22 May 2020

Amidst alarming rates of deforestation and land degradation, urgent action is needed to safeguard the biodiversity of the world's forests, according to a new United Nations report, released on Friday.

Reef fish and corals in the waters of the Seychelles archipelago.
UNDP

Build back better and preserve biodiversity after COVID-19 pandemic: UN chief

22 May 2020
Global

Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic must also lead to countries uniting to preserve the natural world, in line with global commitments to achieve a better future for all people and the planet, top officials with the United Nations said on Friday, the International Day for Biological Diversity.

Malaysia is one of the most biodiverse nations in the world.
Unsplash/Ryan 'O' Niel

FROM THE FIELD: Nature ‘strongest ally’ to building sustainable planet

21 May 2020
Asia Pacific

Nature is humankind’s ‘strongest ally’ to help build a sustainable planet, according to a Malaysian biodiversity expert, whose organization is supported by the UN Development Programme, (UNDP).

Noel Dickinson is a research technician for the Breadfruit Institute at Hawaii's National Tropical Botanical Garden.
ILO Photo/John Isaac

Cultivating a taste for traditional crops in Hawaii

16 May 2020
Americas

Hundreds of millions of people go hungry around the world, and there are fears the COVID-19 pandemic could make matters worse. In Hawaii, researchers think that bringing back overlooked, traditional crops, could help feed many vulnerable people. As part of an ongoing series focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals and ahead of International Day of Biodiversity marked annually on 22 May, UN News travelled to Hawaii with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to see how researchers are trying to cultivate a taste for indigenous crops.

 

(FILE PHOTO) Toxic and life-threatening chemicals can enter the environment through industrial and urban discharges, agricultural run-off and the burning and release of waste.
Photo: UNEP

Deadly gas leak in India, grim wake-up call for global chemical industry: UN rights expert

14 May 2020
Asia Pacific

Last week’s deadly toxic gas leak at a Korean-owned polymer plant in south-eastern India, is a grim wake up call for the chemical industry to acknowledge and fulfil its responsibility to respect human rights, the UN independent expert who monitors the issue, said on Thursday.

UNDP in Ukraine worked with community groups to provide protection masks and suits to medics to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.
UNDP Ukraine/Maksym Kytsiuk

UN sustainable energy project in Ukraine finds a new role: fighting COVID-19

12 May 2020
Europe

A United Nations project to promote energy efficiency among Ukrainian homeowners has found a second life – informing 1.8 million of the nation’s citizens on how to combat the COVID-19 virus.

The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative solar facility in the US state of Hawaii.
ILO Photo/Kevin Cassidy

Moving towards 100% renewable power in Hawaii (with a little help from sheep)

10 May 2020
Americas

The US island state of Hawaii has committed to generating 100 per cent of its power using renewable energy by 2045, demonstrating to other US states and island communities across the world, that sustainable energy can be a reality. UN News travelled to Hawaii with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to talk to a power company executive and a sheep farmer to find out how they are contributing to that goal.