Despite repeated calls for concrete international action to reduce the tragic death toll of migrants, dozens were killed in Mexico when a crowded truck overturned in Chiapas on Thursday night, the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) said in a statement released on Friday.
At...
Asylum-seekers and other migrants continue to be forcefully expelled from Libya, raising concerns at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Spokesperson Rupert Colville, pointed out a “continuing series” of expulsions...
The world must not forget the roughly one million Rohingya from Myanmar “forced to run for their lives from the military’s genocidal attack against them”, an independent UN human rights expert said on Monday, beginning his first mission to Bangladesh.
The Special Rapporteur on the situation of...
With significant travel restrictions and large portions of personnel working from home in 2020, the UN system generated approximately 25 per cent fewer greenhouse emissions than in the year before.
That’s one of the key points to emerge from the Greening the Blue Report 2021, the first study...
Their main call: developed countries must uphold their promise of finance and support to the small states that are at risk of losing so much to the combat against climate change.
“From the ocean came forth life, peace and comfort, a world not known to most but that was one with my people…We...
After ‘walking’ some 8,000 miles across Europe, Little Amal, a giant puppet representing a young Syrian refugee girl, arrived in Glasgow right on time for ‘Women’s Day’ at COP26.
The 3.5-metre-tall living artwork surprised attendants atTuesday’s plenary when it walked up the stairs and joined...
Global casualties from anti-personnel landmines were “exceptionally high” last year, with Syrians and Afghans worst-hit, a UN-backed civil society report said on Wednesday
According to Landmine Monitor 2021, the number of victims rose by 20 per cent in 2020 compared with the previous 12...
A world where every car, bus and truck sold is electric and affordable, where shipping vessels use only sustainable fuels, and where planes can run on green hydrogen may sound like a sci-fi movie, but here, at COP26, many governments and businesses said they have started to work to make it a...
Wednesday’s announcement that China and the United States have agreed to collaborate more closely on climate action was hailed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres as an important step in the right direction.
News of the joint declaration between the two countries, both major emitters of...
Governments need to show the necessary ambition on mitigation, adaptation, and finance in a balanced way, and they can’t settle for the “lowest common denominator”, the UN Secretary-General has said in Glasgow, where crucial climate negotiations are in the final stretch. Meanwhile, a coalition...
Alok Sharma, the COP26 President, said late on Friday that a small number of key issues remain unresolved.
“This is our collective moment in history, this is our chance to forge a cleaner, healthier and more prosperous world, and this is our time to deliver on the high ambition set by our...
After extending the COP26 climate negotiations an extra day, nearly 200 countries meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, adopted on Saturday an outcome document that, according to the UN Secretary-General, “reflects the interests, the contradictions, and the state of political will in the world today”...
Even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and other global challenges, children and youth are nearly 50 per cent more likely than older people to believe that the world is becoming a better place, according to the results of a landmark intergenerational poll published on...
Marking the 35th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development, independent UN human rights experts on Friday issued an urgent call to “move from promises to action” on the outcomes of the UN’s landmark COP26 climate conference.
More than three dozen UN experts endorsed a...
Soil salinization refers to excessive levels of salt in the soil, which can inhibit plant growth and even be toxic to life. It can occur naturally, for example in deserts due to lack of water and intense evaporation, or as a consequence of human activity.
FAO is highlighting the issue in...
Today, when the UN plans initiatives to help vulnerable communities become more resilient, the climate crisis has to be part of the equation. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) is connecting the dots between people and the impacts that climate change is having on their lives.
Solar water...
According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the all-female Champions were chosen for their impact and leadership in advancing bold action on behalf of people and the planet.
“These Champions of the Earth inspire, defend, mobilise and act to tackle the greatest environmental challenges of...
Plastic pollution has become pervasive in agricultural soils, according to a new report released on Tuesday by the UN agriculture agency, posing a threat to food security, people’s health, and the environment.
While plastic refuse littering beaches and oceans draws high-profile attention, the...
Land and water resources are “stressed to a critical point”, following significant deterioration over the past decade, according to a major new report released on Thursday by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Entitled, State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and...
That’s the message on International Mountain Day from passionate climber and UN Geneva worker, Michel Baronian, who’s been an avid mountaineer for more than 40 years.
Although he has stopped keeping track, Michel estimates that he has climbed Mont Blanc – Western Europe’s highest mountain at...