World

The humanitarian situation following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine is still a “moving target”, immediate needs are “huge”, and concerns are rising for what the future holds, according to the UN’s top official in the country, Denise Brown. Speaking to journalists from Bilozerka, a town on the Dnipro River about 20 kilometres […]

(Beirut, June 7, 2023) – Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Professional Golf Association (PGA) have effectively enabled the Saudi government’s efforts to “sportswash” its egregious human rights record through the announced merger of its LIV Golf and the PGA, Human Rights Watch said today. The merger will place the Saudi government in […]

June 5, 2023 – Carbon dioxide levels measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory peaked at 424 parts per million (ppm) in May, continuing a steady climb further into territory not seen for millions of years, scientists from NOAA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego announced today. Measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) obtained […]

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, June 5, 2023 — August 2nd marks this year’s Earth Overshoot Day, according to the latest National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts. They now track countries’ performance up to 2022, reducing reporting lag by three years. However, Earth Overshoot Day’s apparent delay by five days compared to last year’s isn’t all good news, as genuine advancements amount to […]

Racism is a global problem, and every country must take a stance against it, General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi said on Monday, addressing the latest meeting of a UN platform to improve the safety and quality of life of people of African descent worldwide.  “Racism and xenophobia continue to spoil our communities, like scars that […]

May 29, 2023 – A team of researchers from around the world is urging the international community to recognize the full environmental and health threat of plastics and categorize them as persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic (PBT) pollutants. In a new Viewpoint published in Environmental Science and Technology the researchers argue categorizing plastics, including micro- and […]

Geneva, 22 May 2023 (WMO) – Extreme weather, climate and water-related events caused 11 778 reported disasters between 1970 and 2021, with just over 2 million deaths and US$ 4.3 trillion in economic losses, according to a new figure from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Economic losses have soared. But improved early warnings and coordinated disaster management has slashed […]

HIROSHIMA, JAPAN, May 22, 2023 — G7 Leaders in Hiroshima concluded that there is “an important role” for “increased deliveries of LNG” and that “publicly supported gas investments can be appropriate”, jeopardizing the 1.5ºC warming limit and directly contradicting last year’s G7 commitment to end international public finance for fossil fuels by the end of 2022.  The […]

Paris, May 9, 2023 – Despite progress in recent years, more work needs to be done, across all OECD countries, to secure gender equality, with women and girls still facing inappropriate disadvantages and barriers in most spheres of social and economic life, according to a new OECD report. The report Joining Forces for Gender Equality: […]

The ocean can provide vast opportunities for developing countries to build more innovative and resilient economies, but climate change, pollution and overfishing threaten the livelihoods of some three billion people who rely on it for food and income. That’s according to the UN Trade and Development body UNCTAD’s Trade and Environment Review 2023, published on Monday, which […]

Geneva, 3 May 2023 (WMO) – The likelihood of El Niño developing later this year is increasing, according to a new update from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). This would have the opposite impacts on weather and climate patterns in many regions of the to world to the long-running La Niña and would likely fuel higher […]

The UN chief has pledged that the Organization “will never be silent” when women and girls’ rights are under attack, as they are today in Afghanistan, and declared that the Taliban ban on Afghan women doing lifesaving humanitarian work is putting millions of lives in jeopardy there. Secretary-General António Guterres was speaking to reporters in Doha, Qatar, […]

NEW YORK/GENEVA, APRIL 26, 2023—Johnson & Johnson (J&J) must stop trying to extend its monopoly on the tuberculosis (TB) drug bedaquiline in all countries with a high burden of TB, said the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) ahead of J&J’s annual shareholders meeting this week. It’s critical that the US pharmaceutical corporation stop […]

From mountain peaks to ocean depths, climate change continued its advance in 2022, according to the annual report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Droughts, floods and heatwaves affected communities on every continent and cost many billions of dollars. Antarctic sea ice fell to its lowest extent on record and the melting of some European […]

Stockholm, 24 April 2023 – Total global military expenditure increased by 3.7 per cent in real terms in 2022, to reach a new high of $2240 billion. Military expenditure in Europe saw its steepest year-on-year increase in at least 30 years. The three largest spenders in 2022—the United States, China and Russia—accounted for 56 per […]

NEW YORK (20 April 2023) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk today launched a call for a “human rights economy”, warning that currently, economic systems are largely failing to address the basic needs of millions of people and failing to act sustainably. “Too many people around the world cannot afford basic goods. […]

The draconian restrictions on women’s ability to study and work have contributed to the calamitous socio-economic situation in Afghanistan, with devastating consequences for the population, according to a UN report released on Tuesday. The Afghanistan Socio-Economic Outlook 2023, released by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), provides an overview of the fallout resulting from the takeover of […]

 As fighting continues in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan, the World Health Organization urges all parties to the conflict to respect the neutrality of health care and ensure unrestricted access to health facilities for those injured by the hostilities. WHO reminds all parties of their obligations under International Humanitarian Law to protect the wounded […]

Rome –The benchmark index of international food commodity prices declined for the 12th consecutive month in March, driven by declines in world quotations for cereals and vegetable oils, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported today. The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly-traded […]

OTTAWA | TRADITIONAL, UNCEDED TERRITORY OF THE ALGONQUIN ANISHNAABEG PEOPLE, April 6, 2023 – Representatives of fifty-one Tribal and First Nations located in what is now the United States and Canada submitted a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council calling on the Government of Canada to stop violating the human rights of Indigenous […]