Climate and Environment

An oil platform in the Caspian Sea. Petroleum plants that process oil products can prove an increased cancer risk to those working there, or living nearby, a new IARC study shows.
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Increased cancer risk for petroleum industry workers and people living near plants: New UN study

29 April 2021

People working in the petroleum industry or living near petroleum facilities are at increased risk of developing several different cancer types, according to a new report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARCWHO), part of the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

Sunset over a field in the English countryside.
Unsplash/Jack B

SDGs will address ‘three planetary crises’ harming life on Earth 

27 April 2021
Global

The “three planetary crises” of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution are reinforcing each other and driving further damage to the environment and to our health, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Tuesday. 

Sunlight streams through a forest in Germany.
Unsplash/Sebastian Unrau

‘Make-or-break moment’ for forests

26 April 2021
Global

Forests are at the core of our efforts to restore our relationship with the natural world, the deputy UN chief said on Monday at the UN Forum on Forests. 

UN Resident Coordinator Didier Trebucq, along with Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and other UN agency officials, travel to the danger zones to assess the impact of La Soufrière volcano eruption in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
UN Barbados OECS/ Bajanpro

ECOSOC chief calls for financial support for small island developing states

23 April 2021

Small island developing states (SIDS) must receive financial and international support if they are to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters, the President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Munir Akram, said on Friday. 

Refugees in Minawao, in northeastern Cameroon, plant trees in a region which has been deforested due to climate change and human activity.
© UNHCR/Xavier Bourgois

Climate change link to displacement of most vulnerable is clear: UNHCR

22 April 2021

Weather-related crises have triggered more than twice as much displacement as conflict and violence in the last decade, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Thursday.

Scientists believe that climate change is causing an increase in extreme weather events.
NOAA/Jerry Penry

The planet’s on ‘red alert’ UN chief warns leaders at President Biden’s climate summit

22 April 2021
Global

World leaders must act now and put the planet on a green path because “we are at the verge of the abyss”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday in his address to the virtual climate summit convened by United States President Joseph Biden. 

Climate youth activist Marie Christina Kolo of Madagascar.
© Rakotondrazafy A. M. Ny Aina

First Person: ‘Youth won’t stay silent’ says Madagascar climate activist

22 April 2021
Global

Young people around the world “won’t stay silent” about the global climate crisis according to a youth activist from Madagascar. 

International Mother Earth Day is celebrated annually on 22 April.
CIFOR/Ollivier Girard

Commit to restoring the planet, UN chief says in message for International Mother Earth Day

21 April 2021
Global

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for commitment to restoring the planet, and to making peace with nature, in his message to mark International Mother Earth Day, celebrated annually on 22 April. 

A young hairdresser will use the solar panel he received from the International Labour Organisation to power his salon in Malawi.
ILO/Marcel Crozet

ILO kicks off Green Week to ‘jump-start’ a sustainable future 

21 April 2021
Global

As the world grapples with the devastating economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 crisis, the UN’s labour agency launched ILO Green Week to explore what a green future of work could look like, and how we can get there. 

A turtle swims in the ocean in Martinique in the Caribbean.
Coral Reef Image Bank/Michele Roux

Ocean benefits increasingly undermined by human activity, UN assessment reveals

21 April 2021
Global

Greater understanding of the ocean is essential if the world is to recover better from the COVID-19 pandemic and achieve agreed targets on sustainable development and climate action, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday in launching a major study on what he called “the life support system of our planet.”