This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Ukraine: UN Secretary-General expresses shock over Bucha killings

UN chief António Guterres has spoken of his shock at the images of dead civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha – while the UN’s rights chief on Monday spoke of “possible war crimes”.

It follows the discovery of mass graves and hundreds of dead civilians lying in the streets of the Kyiv suburb, in areas only just reclaimed from Russian troops, after weeks of heavy fighting.

In a short statement echoing widespread Western condemnation for the grisly development, the UN Secretary-General said on Sunday that it was “essential that an independent investigation leads to effective accountability”, nearly six weeks since Russia invaded its neighbour.

Also responding to the Bucha news, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that she had been “horrified by the images of civilians lying dead on the streets.”

Ms. Bachelet said that reports emerging from Bucha “and other areas” raised “serious and disturbing questions about possible war crimes, grave breaches of international humanitarian law and serious violations of international human rights law”, adding that “all measures should be taken to preserve evidence”.

Russia has denied that its troops were responsible for the killings.

UN climate report: urgent action must be taken to mitigate environment catastrophe

With the agreement of 195 States, a new flagship UN report on climate change out Monday has underscored how critical it is for the world to take urgent action to soften the impact of global temperature rise.

The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has had input from hundreds of scientists in dozens of countries.

It assesses progress and gaps in limiting greenhouse gas emissions and reviews mitigation options across sectors including energy, buildings, transport, industry, agriculture and forestry.

In line with previous reports from the intergovernmental panel, which was established in 1988, this latest edition sounded a strong warning that much bolder action is needed immediately to cut greenhouse gas emissions, using sustainable methods.

A lot of importance is attached to IPCC assessments because they provide governments with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies.

They are also a feature of international negotiations to tackle climate change.

More than 90 feared dead in new Mediterranean tragedy

At least 90 people are believed to have drowned in a new Mediterranean shipwreck tragedy off the coast of Libya at the weekend.

According to reports, a commercial tanker rescued four survivors from a life raft who said that they had been at sea for at least four days on an overcrowded boat.

Reacting to the news, Filippo Grandi, head of the UN refugee agency, said on Sunday that Europe had “proven its ability to host four million refugees from Ukraine generously and effectively”, and that countries should “urgently consider how to apply this to other refugees and migrants knocking, in distress, at its doors”.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.