SDGs

Youth riding share bikes along the UNESCO World Heritage Site West Lake in Hangzhou, China.
Yimin Feng

‘Bicycle Kingdom’ makes a comeback, as China seeks solutions to tackle air pollution crisis

3 June 2019
Asia Pacific

Cars have replaced bicycles as the primary means of transport in many Chinese cities but, with air pollution a major problem for the country, the bike is making a comeback, thanks to digital technology, and some 21st Century thinking.

Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, suffers from severe air pollution. (January 2018)
© UNICEF/Mungunkhishig Batbaatar

With a premature death every five seconds, air pollution is violation of human rights, says UN expert

3 June 2019
Global

An independent UN expert said on Monday that the failure of governments across the world to ensure clear air, constitutes a “violation of the rights to life, health and well-being, as well as the right to live in a healthy environment.”

View of the city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. (file)
UN Photo/Kibae Park

‘Ground-breaking innovation’ needed in cities, where battle for sustainable development will be won or lost, says UN agency chief

29 May 2019
Global

If the battle to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to be won or lost in cities, then they need to “achieve a lasting impact on communities and to ensure that no one is left behind,” the head of the UN agency dealing with sustainable urban development said on Wednesday.

A 16-year-old child swims in the flooded area of Aberao village in Kiribati. The Pacific island is one of the countries worst affected by sea-level rise.
UNICEF/Sokhin

‘Save Tuvalu; save the world’; UN chief echoes rallying cry from front lines of global climate emergency

29 May 2019
Global

Further inaction on climate change is “simply not an option”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday in an opinion piece where he called for “rapid and deep change in how we do business, generate power, build cities and feed the world.” 
 

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.

Sunge experienced complications during childbirth. She was able to access high-quality life-saving care at one of the newly renovated and equipped health facilities in Simiyu Region.
© UNFPA Tanzania/Bright Warren

End ‘shame, isolation and segregation’ of fistula sufferers, urges UN reproductive health chief

23 May 2019
Global

Although obstetric fistula has largely been eliminated in developed countries, more than two million women and girls still live with the painful and disfiguring condition, according to UN data.

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 UN Secretary-General António Guterres visits Vanuatu on the last stage of his Pacific Ocean mission to view the effects of climate change. (18 May 2019)
UN Photo/Mark Garten

UN chief calls for ‘enlightened self-interest’ from world leaders to save ‘the whole planet’ from climate change 

18 May 2019
Asia Pacific

Concluding a week-long visit to the South Pacific, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on the world’s decision-makers to make “enlightened” choices on climate action because “the whole planet” is at stake. 

My favorite place by Olga Lavrushko, Ukraine. One of the winners of the International Forest Photograph Contest.
Olga Lavrushko

Ensuring the ‘lungs of the planet’ keep us alive: 5 things you need to know about forests and the UN

10 May 2019
Global

Forests are vitally important for sustaining life on Earth, and play a major role in the fight against climate change. With the 2019 session of the United Nations Forum on Forests wrapping up on Friday in New York, we delve deeper into the subject, and find out what the UN is doing to safeguard and protect them.