renewable energy

News in Brief 2 December 2020

  • Making peace with nature must be top priority for all: UN chief 
  • Countries urged to reduce fossil fuel production to avoid ‘catastrophic’ temperature rise 
  • Pandemic driving down wages, with women and low-paid workers hard hit: ILO report
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UN highlights urgent need to tackle impact of likely electric car battery production boom

Demand for raw materials used in the production of electric car batteries is set to soar, prompting the UN trade body, UNCTAD, to call for the social and environmental impacts of the extraction of raw materials, which include human rights abuses, to be urgently addressed.

What will power the post-pandemic global economic recovery?

As governments try to kick-start their economies, the UN is calling for recovery plans to be built around low-carbon technologies, to avoid a return to fossil fuel-based "business as usual".

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

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.

FROM THE FIELD: Sunny days power a better life for displaced Nigerians

Water boreholes powered by solar energy are helping to improve life for Nigerians displaced by conflict, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).