SDGs

Kamloops lake in British Columbia, Canada, is located on traditional lands of the Secwepemc Nation.
Unsplash/Louis Paulin

Still time to reverse damage to ‘ravaged’ ecosystems, declares UN chief, marking World Environment Day 

4 June 2021
Global

Amidst the triple environmental threat of biodiversity loss, climate disruption and escalating pollution, Secretary-General António Guterres launched “an unprecedented effort to heal the Earth”, on the eve of World Environment Day. 

A hospital kitchen worker in France prepares meals for patients.
ILO Photo/Marcel Crozet

COVID crisis to push global unemployment over 200 million mark in 2022

2 June 2021

The economic crisis caused by the COVID pandemic is expected to contribute to global unemployment of more than 200 million people next year, with women and youth workers worst-hit, UN labour experts said on Wednesday.

Children use their tablet at a UNICEF supported learning centre in a village on the outskirts of Kassala, in Eastern Sudan.
© UNICEF/Shehzad Noorani

Don’t let the digital divide become ‘the new face of inequality’: UN deputy chief

27 April 2021
Global

Without decisive action by the international community, the digital divide will become “the new face of inequality”, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed warned the General Assembly on Tuesday. 

The impacts of COVID-19 have rendered one-in-eight young people, the majority of whom are girls, without access to education. Pictured are Ethiopian girls learning about the harmful practice of female genital mutilation (FMG).
© UNICEF/Meklit Mersha

Youth Forum: UN chief calls for ‘tangible improvements’ in the face of injustice, poor governance

7 April 2021
Global

Leaders across the world need to “move beyond platitudes” about young people, and deliver a better future for them all, Secretary-General António Guterres told the 10th Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum on Wednesday. 

Women work in a vegetable garden in a village in Senegal. The village is part of the
© FAO/Eduardo Soteras

More climate action needed during ‘make-or-break year’ for people and planet 

31 March 2021
Global

The world needs “a major breakthrough” to slow the pace of climate change and build resilience to protect the most vulnerable from increasingly severe and frequent climate impacts, the deputy UN chief told a crucial high-level meeting on Wednesday, looking ahead to November’s COP26. 

Fish swim around a coral reef in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt.
Coral Reef Image Bank/Alexander

Biodiversity at risk, threatens human survival, UN forum hears 

24 March 2021
Global

As the living tissue of the earth, biodiversity is “intimately linked to human health” the head of the UN’s scientific agency told a global forum on Wednesday, noting that “we are part of that living tissue”. 

More than 900 million tonnes of food is thrown away every year.
Unsplash/Sanjog Timsina

Wasting food just feeds climate change, new UN environment report warns 

4 March 2021
Global

More than 930 million tonnes of food sold in 2019 landed in waste bins, according to new UN research, released on Thursday, in support of global efforts to halve food waste by 2030. 

A horse rider heads towards mountains in Kyrgyzstan .
© UNESCO

UN offers science-based blueprint to tackle climate crisis, biodiversity loss and pollution

18 February 2021
Global

Without nature’s help, “we will not thrive or even survive”, the UN chief said on Thursday, launching a major report on the environment. 

Children at the Oruchinga refugee settlement in Uganda are being taught critical development skills, as the world is encouraged to foster policies that tackle high and rising inequality. (file)
© UNICEF/Kalungi Kabuye

Social development key pillar for ‘sustainable and resilient’ world – Commission hears 

8 February 2021
Global

As coronavirus vaccines provide a glimmer of optimism around the world, a high-level UN official said on Monday that it was “painful to witness” the dashed hopes of most people in the Global South who have little chance of receiving an inoculation anytime soon. 

A school of fish in Quintana Roo, on the Yucatán Peninsula's Caribbean coast of Mexico.
Coral Reef Image Bank/Philip Ham

‘Make peace with nature’, UN chief urges at Ocean Decade launch

3 February 2021
Global

January marked the beginning of what many within the UN and beyond view as “the most critical decade of our lives”, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said on Wednesday, launching a major initiative to protect the world’s oceans through the next ten years.