News

Our news page provides you with a round up of UN news related to economic development, humanitarian aid, climate change, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). You will find the summary of news articles together with a link to the news source.

Climate change: WMO report urges faster action on transition to clean energy

11 Oct 2022

The UN weather agency issued an urgent appeal on Tuesday for governments everywhere to switch to cleaner forms of energy, such as solar, wind and hydro-electric power.

UN relief chief appeals for concerted action to tackle deadly heatwave threat

10 Oct 2022

Heatwaves already kill thousands of people every year and they risk overwhelming the world’s aid response, unless action is taken to mitigate climate change, the UN’s emergency relief chief said on Monday.

UN chief calls for ‘enhanced security support’ for Haiti, as crisis worsens

09 Oct 2022

Amid a deteriorating security situation in Haiti, UN Security-General António Guterres called on Sunday for the Security Council to consider deploying armed forces to help the country address immense humanitarian concerns.

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Historic net-zero international flight goal agreed at UN conference

09 Oct 2022

State members of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted a long-term goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, following two weeks of intensive diplomacy at the UN agency’s 41st Assembly, on Friday.

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Australian surfers ride climate action wave

09 Oct 2022

Surfers have an intimate knowledge of the ocean, but have not been seen as leading figures amongst groups leading on climate change solutions. Thanks to groups such as Surfers for Climate in Australia, that perception is starting to change.

Climate crisis intensifying heatwaves, UN-backed report warns ahead of COP27

08 Oct 2022

Greater action is needed now to avert the recurrence of disastrous heatwaves, which are being intensified by the climate crisis, the UN humanitarian affairs agency, OCHA, and the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), said in a report issued on Monday. 

Is it possible to be a ‘sustainable tourist’? 12 ways to make a positive impact on your travels

08 Oct 2022

After a period of plummeting tourism numbers during the pandemic, tourism is having a resurgence. This is good news for many workers and businesses, but it could be bad for the planet. Here is a selection of ways tourists can ensure that their holidays don’t harm the environment.

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Pakistan’s ‘climate carnage beyond imagination’, UN chief tells General Assembly

07 Oct 2022

The people of Pakistan are the victims of “a grim calculus of climate injustice”, Secretary-General António Guterres told the UN General Assembly on Friday, reminding that while the country was responsible for less than one per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, it is paying a “supersized price for man-made climate change”.

 

World Cotton Day focuses on the fibre’s role in weaving socio-economic development

07 Oct 2022

Cotton is a constant thread in our lives, from field to fabric, the UN agriculture agency, FAO, upheld on Friday, World Cotton Day, drawing attention to the natural fibre’s contribution in weaving socio-economic development and championing its advancement in sustainable livelihoods.

 

Aid relief reaches Ukraine towns and cities reclaimed from Russian control

07 Oct 2022

Urgently needed aid relief has reached areas of northeast Ukraine recently reclaimed from Russian control amid ongoing fighting, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

WTO anticipates sharp slowdown in world trade growth in 2023

06 Oct 2022

Trade growth is expected to lose momentum in the second half of this year and remain subdued in 2023, as the global economy sustains multiple shocks, such as ripple effects from the war in Ukraine, the latest forecast from the World Trade Organization (WTO) has revealed. 

Ten years of Afghan economic growth, reversed in just 12 months: UNDP

05 Oct 2022

A year on from the Taliban takeover in Kabul, Afghanistan is gripped by “cascading crises”, including a crippled economy that humanitarian aid alone cannot address, according to a 

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New UN report urges Europe to step-up action over triple environmental crisis

05 Oct 2022

A new UN report presented on Wednesday to the Organization’s highest pan-European environmental policy body, covering 54 countries, is calling for greater action to tackle the triple environmental crisis roiling the planet.

Climate change heightens threats of violence against women and girls

05 Oct 2022

Climate change and environmental degradation are escalating the risk and prevalence of violence against women and girls across the world, a UN-appointed independent human rights expert warned on Wednesday.

INTERVIEW: The many ways space technologies make the world a better place

04 Oct 2022

Maruška Strah is the head of the World Space Week Association, which coordinates the thousands of activities planned for this year’s World Space Week.

Pakistan: To avert ‘second wave of death’, UN raises funding appeal to $816 million

04 Oct 2022

Battling what the top UN aid official in Pakistan has warned is a “second wave of death and destruction”, following catastrophic flooding since June that left a third of the country submerged, UN humanitarians on Tuesday raised their funding request from $160 million to $816 million.

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Haiti: UN supports Government efforts to quell cholera outbreak

03 Oct 2022

The UN is supporting efforts by the Haitian Government to contain an outbreak of cholera following the confirmation of a positive case and the identification of other suspected cases around the capital, Port-au-Prince.

UN chief: Countries bound for COP27 must make climate action ‘the top global priority’

03 Oct 2022

As government representatives begin the finalize the agenda for the COP27 climate change conference in Egypt next month, for pre-COP planning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo capital, Kinshasa, Secretary-General António Guterres told journalists in New York that the work ahead is “as immense as the climate impacts we are seeing around the world”.

More action and investment needed in cities to end ‘cascade of challenges’

03 Oct 2022

In his message marking World Habitat Day on Monday, the UN chief said more “urgent action and greater investment” is the key to help alleviate the current “cascade of challenges”.

Five ways media and journalists can support climate action while tackling misinformation

03 Oct 2022

It’s a fact: media shapes the public discourse about climate change and how to respond to it. Even the UN’s own Intergovernmental Panel of Experts on Climate Change (IPCC) warned clearly of this for the first time in the latest of its landmark series of reports.

Policy mistakes could trigger worse recession than 2007 crisis: UNCTAD

03 Oct 2022

The world is headed towards a global recession and prolonged stagnation unless fiscal and monetary policies holding sway in some advanced economies are quickly changed, according to a new report released on Monday by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

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Burkina Faso: UN chief condemns any attempt to seize power by the force of arms

01 Oct 2022

The UN Secretary-General expressed on Saturday his deep concern regarding the unfolding developments in Burkina Faso, where according to media reports, a group of military officers overthrew the man who had seized power in a coup only nine months earlier.

Yemen: Put the people first, Guterres urges, with extended and expanded truce

30 Sep 2022

Yemen’s warring parties who have sustained a nationwide truce for the past six months, need to prioritize the “needs and aspirations” of the people, by both extending and expanding it, beyond Sunday’s imminent deadline, the UN chief has said.

Empty shelves and rising prices linked to Ukraine crisis push Tunisians to the brink

30 Sep 2022

For many Tunisians, shortages of essential foods, fuel and key farming products linked to the war in Ukraine, have tested them to the limit, they’ve been telling UN News.

Black Sea exports ramp up, bringing confidence to global commerce and food to most vulnerable

29 Sep 2022

Two months since the Black Sea Grain Initiative kicked into action to help release desperately needed grain and fertilizer from ports in Ukraine and Russia, confidence is returning among global distributors as exports ramp up, UN humanitarians said on Thursday.

World Maritime Day showcases technology for ‘greener’ shipping

29 Sep 2022

How shipping can contribute to a more sustainable future for all is the focus of World Maritime Day, celebrated on Thursday.

Climate Change: Hurricanes and cyclones bring misery to millions, as Ian makes landfall in the US

28 Sep 2022

Hurricane Ian caused devastation across western Cuba and increased its strength and size as it made landfall mid-afternoon local time on Wednesday, in the United States; meanwhile Typhoon Noru underwent an “explosive” intensification before it hit the Philippines, the UN Meteorological agency, WMO, has said.

Join forces to prevent ‘food availability crisis’ urges FAO chief

28 Sep 2022

As the war in Ukraine stokes a crisis for countries who are struggling just to access the food their populations want and need, the international community needs to ensure that doesn’t spill over into a “food availability crisis”, the head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Wednesday.

World ‘must engage’ or risk Afghanistan’s collapse, Security Council hears

27 Sep 2022

“Patience is running out” for many in the international community when it comes to effectively engaging with Afghanistan’s de facto rulers, the Taliban, senior UN envoy for the country, Markus Potzel, told the Security Council on Tuesday.

UN urges investment in clean, sustainable tourism, as numbers bounce back

27 Sep 2022

International tourism is showing strong signs of recovery, with tourist numbers rising to 57 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. On World Tourism Day, marked on Tuesday, the UN is calling for a major global rethink of the sector, to ensure that tourism is sustainable, and benefits local communities.