biodiversity

In Indonesia many people rely on forest biodiversity for their livelihoods.
CIFOR/Ulet Ifansasti

Secretary-General calls for bold action to end biodiversity crisis

30 August 2021
Climate and Environment

With one million species at risk of extinction, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday called for greater leadership and political will to end the biodiversity crisis.

A woman looks across her village in Indonesia which was destroyed in a tsunami.
OCHA/Anthony Burke

News in Brief 19 August 2021

19 August 2021
News in Brief
  • Race is on to limit impact of extreme weather on most vulnerable: Guterres
  • Minorities must be at heart of bid to save planet’s biodiversity: rights expert 
  • UN launches strategy for digital transformation of peacekeeping
Audio -
3'42"
A volunteer carer called Trinity is working in a COVID-19 field hospital in Nasrec, Johannesburg.
IMF/James Oatway

News in Brief 22 July 2021

22 July 2021
News in Brief
  • Africa: 7 in 10 countries to miss COVID19 vaccination targets
  • Reversing biodiversity loss is worth $1.4 trillion a year: FAO chief
  • Togo joins international bid to end statelessness
Audio -
3'9"
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity aims to provide solutions to help humans live 'in harmony with nature' in places like the Amazon forest in Brazil.
IMF/Raphael Alves

UN body unveils new plan to end ecological destruction, ‘preserve and protect nature’

13 July 2021
Climate and Environment

Equitably “redirecting, repurposing or eliminating incentives” that harm biodiversity by at least $500 billion per year is just one of the 21 ambitious targets of a new draft agreement released by a UN body in the lead up to the landmark November climate conference, COP26, in the United Kingdom.

 

Dateline Geneva Podcast (Cover)
United Nations

UN Catch-Up Dateline Geneva – DR Congo volcano aid operation

3 June 2021
UN Catch-Up Dateline Geneva

In this week’s 15-minute UN Catch-Up podcast, we hear from the UN aid team that’s been caught up in the terrifying volcanic eruption in DR Congo’s Goma city. Plus, the week’s top news stories from UN News, covering Ethiopia’s Tigray, COVID in Africa and a global biodiversity regeneration call. With Daniel Johnson and Solange Behoteguy-Cortes. Thanks for listening.

Audio -
15'33"
COVID-19 vaccines are delivered by boat to Bwama Island, a hard to reach area in Kabale District western Uganda.
© UNICEF/Catherine Ntabadde

News in Brief 3 June 2021

3 June 2021
News in Brief
  • COVID surge risk in Africa, warns WHO
  • China-sized restoration call from UNEP, FAO
  • Food price inflation fastest since 2011
Audio -
3'9"
Restoring natural habitats can help to address climate and biodiversity crises.
CIFOR/Terry Sunderland

Restoration call for area ‘the size of China’ to protect falling biodiversity and food insecurity

3 June 2021
Climate and Environment

An area of land roughly the size of China needs restoring if the planet’s biodiversity and the communities who rely on it are to be protected, UN agencies said on Thursday.

Sacha Dench prepares to follow Bewick’s swans on their annual migration in 2016.
Angharad Barlow

First Person: The ‘Human Swan’ inspiring climate action

30 May 2021
Climate and Environment

Australian biologist Sacha Dench has been nicknamed “the Human Swan”, in recognition of her record-breaking, 7,000 kilometre, paramotor (motorized paraglider) flight, tracking Bewick swans across 11 countries, from Arctic Russian to the UK. Ahead of International Day for Biological Diversity, Ms. Dench explains why a drastic shift is needed in the global economy, to save endangered wildlife.

Restoring natural habitats as pictured here in Cuba will help to slow down climate change
UNDP

Boost investments in nature to combat climate, biodiversity and land degradation crises

27 May 2021
Climate and Environment

Annual investments in nature-based solutions will have to triple by 2030, and increase four-fold by 2050, if the world is to successfully tackle the triple threat of climate, biodiversity and land degradation crises, according to a new UN-backed study published on Thursday. 

A farmer in rural Nepal tends to the crops. Nature-based solutions are low-cost options to reduce climate risks, protect biodiversity and bring benefits for communities. (file photo)
UN Women/Narendra Shrestha

SDGs: Greater urgency needed to meet environmental goals, improved data likely key

22 May 2021
Climate and Environment

Countries are on track to miss the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) relating to environmental protection, two UN entities warn in new report issued on Saturday to coincide with the International Day for Biological Diversity.