SDGs

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that tobacco use claims about eight million lives a year. (file)
WHO

Don’t let smoking steal life’s breathtaking moments, urges UN health agency

30 May 2019

Tobacco use continues to claim around eight million lives a year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, in a call for faster action from governments to tackle smoking and the “enormous” health, social, environmental and economic costs it entails.

Climate activist, Greta Thunberg (l), former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and the UN Secretary-General António Guterres (r) meet at the R20 Austria World Summit in Vienna. (28 May 2019)
UN Vienna/Nikoleta Haffar

End fossil fuel subsidies, and stop using taxpayers’ money to destroy the world: Guterres

28 May 2019
Global

“We need to tax pollution, not people”, and “end subsidies for fossil fuels,” Secretary-General António Guterres told the World Summit of the R20 Coalition on Tuesday, a UN-supported environmental organization, founded by former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A saleswoman sells Asian grapefruits on a floating market.
Bioversity International/B. Sthapit

Preserving biodiversity vital to reverse tide of climate change, UN stresses on International Day 

22 May 2019
Global

The food people eat around the world is becoming “alarmingly homogenous” according to UN data, even though access to a wide variety of nutritious food has never been greater. That warning comes as the world marks the International Day for Biological Diversity on Wednesday, which this year highlights the impact of environmental neglect on food security and public health. 

A participant at World Bee Day, held at FAO headquarters in Rome to raise awareness on the role of bees and pollinators in food and agriculture, captures a photo of a bee observation hive. (20 May 2019)
FAO/Alessia Pierdomenico

On World Bee day, human activity blamed for falling pollinator numbers

20 May 2019

If you think you’re busy, then spare a thought for the world’s bees; for they, along with other insects and animals, are responsible for pollinating more than 75 per cent of the planet’s favourite food crops.

The low-lying island nation, Tuvalu, in the Pacific Ocean is particularly susceptible to higher sea levels caused by climate change.
UNDP Tuvalu/Aurélia Rusek

UN chief outlines ‘intertwined challenges’ of climate change, ocean health facing Pacific nations on the ‘frontline’

14 May 2019
Asia Pacific

Visiting Fiji for the first time as Secretary-General, António Guterres outlined two “fundamental challenges” facing leaders attending the Pacific Islands Forum on Tuesday, namely climate change and the world’s rising ocean, which threatens to submerge low-lying nations.

A village bank in Takeo province, Cambodia. Photo: Brett Matthews
Brett Matthews

Thursday’s Daily Brief: ambulance attack in Libya, #GlobalGoals defenders, human rights in Cambodia, Swine Fever

9 May 2019
Global

On Thursday, we cover: a tragic attack against an ambulance in Libya; six new advocates for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals; a call for a change in political culture in Cambodia; and how Swine Fever in China is affecting global food prices.