Climate and Environment

Record-breaking ‘pressure-cooker’ heatwave hits Canada, US northwest

A "pressure-cooker" heatwave that's broken temperature records twice in 48 hours in the US northwest and western Canada is being mirrored across large parts of the northern hemisphere, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday.

The trillion dollar climate finance challenge (and opportunity)

It’s overwhelmingly accepted that climate change is a very significant threat to humanity and while there are countless solutions to tackling what has been described by the UN as the “existential threat” of our times, it is still not fully clear how these solutions will be paid for. 

$1 billion fund for renewables among key energy commitments made during UN ministerial forums

The IKEA Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation have announced plans to launch a $1 billion fund to boost access to renewable energy in developing countries – one of the key commitments made during a series of virtual UN ministerial forums this week.

On climate change frontline, indigenous provide pointers to save planet 

Indigenous people living on the frontline of climate change could offer potentially ground-breaking insight into biodiversity protection and sustainability, but they urgently need help to withstand a growing number of threats to their way of life, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said on Friday. 

Water-related disasters throw up complex challenges, threaten lives and jobs

The global climate crisis is “exacerbating and intensifying” water-related disasters, jeopardizing lives and livelihoods, the UN chief said on Friday at a major sustainable development symposium.

UN chief urges European Parliament to support COVID vaccines for all

The European Union (EU) must use its leverage to ensure people everywhere have access to COVID-19 vaccines, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday. 

 

Madagascar’s hungry ‘holding on for dear life’, WFP chief warns

Thousands of families in southern Madagascar are on the edge of starvation, and “holding on for dear life”, the UN food agency chief said on Wednesday - after bearing witness to the suffering firsthand - urging the world to step-up and take action. 


 

Small businesses unprepared for pandemic-sized climate shock ‘every decade’

 

Small businesses which make up more than half of the global workforce were 2.5 times more likely to go under than larger firms in the first months of COVID-19, the International Trade Centre (ITC) said on Wednesday, warning that the impact of climate change could cause pandemic-scale disruption “every decade”.

Great Barrier Reef in danger, UN World Heritage Committee draft report finds

A United Nations body is recommending that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef be included on a list of world heritage in danger, according to a draft report issued on Monday, a move which has been heavily criticized by the Australian Government.  

FROM THE FIELD: Restoring Dutch ‘green deserts’

The Western Peat Meadows of the Netherlands look like classic Dutch countryside (cows, windmills and green fields), but the views mask a significant loss of biodiversity, caused by intensive farming methods. As the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration begins, a local organisation is planning to restore 100 million of hectares of land, across the world.