Category: Climate Feed

A new and disturbing high temperature record for the Arctic of 38 degrees Celsius, or just over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, was confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Tuesday. Worryingly, the temperature reading taken last June in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk – which is located 115 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle –… Continue reading 38℃ record Arctic temperature confirmed, others likely to follow: WMO

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 4,807 meters – more than 100 times.   Reaching the heights  He has also scaled peaks higher than 8,000 meters, such as Annapurna in Nepal, without using supplemental oxygen.   “When I am up there, it is… Continue reading Mountain Day: ‘Peak ambition must be to keep our summits clean’, declares veteran climber

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 Agriculture – Systems at breaking point (SOLAW 2021), the report highlights the challenges that lie ahead in feeding a global population that should near ten billion by 2050.  At the… Continue reading Land and water ecosystems, ‘stressed to a critical point’ 

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 Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Assessment of agricultural plastics and their sustainability:… Continue reading Plastics in soil threaten food security, health, and environment: FAO

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 our time, including ecosystem protection and restoration”, the agency said… Continue reading Women sweep UN’s 2021 ‘Champions of the Earth’ awards 

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 facility in Ethiopia, by UNDP Every solution is… Continue reading From the Field: ‘climate-smart’ development in an uncertain world

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 marking World Soil Day… Continue reading Excess salt in soils puts food security at risk: FAO

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 statement calling for greater transparency and rigorous follow… Continue reading COP26: Convert climate ‘promises to action’, urge UN rights experts

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 Thursday.  The international survey was conducted by… Continue reading Youth embody ‘spirit’ of 21st century more than parents, new survey shows

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”. “It is an important step but is not enough. We must accelerate… Continue reading COP26 closes with ‘compromise’ deal on climate, but it’s not enough, says UN chief

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 leaders at the… Continue reading As COP26 deadline slips, negotiators keep working to agree crucial climate deal

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 of countries launched a new pledge to end gas and oil… Continue reading COP26: Promises ‘ring hollow’ when fossil fuels still receive trillions in subsidies; UN chief calls on negotiators to pick up the pace

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 greenhouse gases, came late in the evening in Glasgow, where… Continue reading UN chief welcomes China-US pledge to cooperate on climate action

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 reality. Wednesday was… Continue reading Era free of fossil-fuel powered vehicles comes into focus at COP26; draft outcome is met with calls for more ambition

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 months, the result of “increased armed conflict and contamination” of land with improvised… Continue reading Landmine casualties ‘exceptionally high’, Syria and Afghanistan worst-hit

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 Samoan climate activist Brianna Fruean for a hug and a… Continue reading Women bear the brunt of the climate crisis, COP26 highlights

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 will remember… Continue reading A matter of life or death: At COP26, vulnerable countries tell developed nations it’s time to keep their promise on climate finance

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 to reveal the impact that COVID-19 has had on the UN system’s environmental footprint.  Addressing the report,… Continue reading UN system generated 25% fewer greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 

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 human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, began his… Continue reading Remember the Rohingya ‘forced to run for their lives’

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, including two large groups of Sudanese over the past month, and another group of 24 Eritreans, apparently at imminent risk of similar treatment. … Continue reading UN raises alarm over ‘continuing’ expulsions of asylum seekers from Libya 

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 least 54 reportedly Central American migrants died and more than 100 were injured – the single deadliest incident for migrants in Mexico since at least 2014, when IOM… Continue reading Mexico: With scores killed in truck crash, UN urges States to agree ‘controlled’ migration

A flare-up in intercommunal fighting in northern Cameroon has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes and brought a halt to aid operations there, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday.  The development is just the latest episode in the difficult relationship between the region’s herders, fishermen and farmers, who have seen the… Continue reading Climate change fuels violence and mass displacement in Cameroon 

The increasing needs of refugees and migrants from Venezuela have worsened with the COVID-19 pandemic, say UN rights experts. The number of Venezuelans worldwide who’ve gone on the run has now topped six million, with the vast majority hosted by countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and migration agency… Continue reading $1.79 billion needed to help Venezuelan refugees and migrants

Conflict, climate change and COVID-19, have created a perfect storm of challenges facing refugees, displaced people and their hosts, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, told the Security Council on Tuesday. The deadly mix has increased forced displacement and increased hardships, while the climate emergency has fuelled conflict in Sahel, he said. Underlining the importance… Continue reading Navigating complex peace and security challenges together: Grandi

With escalating violence displacing thousands of people since November, the humanitarian situation in Sudan’s Darfur is getting worse and around 6.2 million people will need humanitarian assistance next year, UN agencies reported on Tuesday.   The Principal Situation Coordinator for the region at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Toby Harward, told journalists in Geneva that the agency is deeply concerned about the situation.   According to him, nearly 10,000 Sudanese have fled a wave of intercommunal violence in the Jebel… Continue reading Clashes displace thousands in Darfur, where 6.2 million will need assistance next year 

Amidst “truly unprecedented levels” of hunger in Afghanistan, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday that as winter arrives, avoiding widespread starvation “is an immediate priority”.   Launching a global fundraising winter campaign to help forcibly displaced families in Afghanistan and elsewhere to cope with the most life-threatening months of the year, UNHCR Spokesperson Babar Baloch described it as “a crisis of hunger and starvation”. “People don’t have… Continue reading Avoid starvation – ‘Immediate priority’ for 3.5 million Afghans 

Lack of opportunities, gangs, organized crime, the ravages of the pandemic and climate change, have triggered the displacement of nearly one million people in Mexico and Central America in recent years.  To deal with the problem more effectively, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees called on Thursday for a new mechanism that could operate across the whole region, to deal with what is now an unprecedented displacement crisis.   At the… Continue reading UNHCR chief calls for mechanism to deal with ‘unprecedented’ displacement in Mexico and Central America

There was a dramatic increase in internal displacement due to disasters, conflict and violence in 2020, but global mobility overall, ground to a halt due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.   That is the main finding of the World Migration Report 2022, launched on Wednesday by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).  For IOM‘s Director General, António Vitorino, the world is “witnessing a paradox not seen before in human history.”  “While billions of… Continue reading Global displacement rising despite lockdowns that kept billions grounded

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and partners, are scaling up aid along the border between the European Union and Belarus, amid worsening winter weather, which is leading to rising deaths due to hypothermia among asylum seekers stranded there.  It is estimated that there are up to 2,000 migrants and refugees at the border with Poland, predominantly Kurds from Iraq, but also Syrians, Iranians,… Continue reading IOM scales up aid at EU-Belarus border, as migrant hypothermia deaths tick up  

One meal a day, no shelter, and no drinking water are only some of the difficult living conditions that indigenous Warao families from Venezuela are facing in remote locations across Guyana, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has warned.  More humanitarian presence and support from the international community is needed, said on Friday Philippa Candler, UNHCR’s Multi-Country Office Representative in Panama, speaking to journalists in Geneva.  An estimated… Continue reading UN refugee agency concerned about indigenous Venezuelans in Guyana 

One in five refugee or internally displaced women have faced sexual violence, and the situation continues to worsen globally, the UN refugee agency, (UNHCR), said on Thursday. On the 30th anniversary of the campaign for 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, the UN agency said that there’s been a global surge in domestic violence,… Continue reading Violence against refugee women surged in 2020, but grassroots solutions can help tackle scourge

Urgent action is needed to avoid a repeat of tragedies like this week’s drowning of at least 27 people in the English Channel, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Thursday.  The incident amounted to the largest single loss of life in the English Channel since the UN migration agency, IOM, started recording data in 2014.   Another 106… Continue reading Drowning of 27 migrants in English Channel is worst disaster on record: IOM 

For the past five years, poverty, food insecurity, climate shocks and violence have pushed, on average, some 378,000 Central Americans a year into the United States, according to a new report launched on Tuesday by the UN food relief agency.  A joint report published by the World Food Programme (WFP), Migration Policy Institute (MPI), and Civic Data Design Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) also showed that a high price was paid in human and… Continue reading Poverty and violence push 378,000 Central Americans north each year 

Amid growing concerns about the plight of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers at the Poland-Belarus border, the UN rights office and UN refugee agency on Friday urged all parties to respect human rights and refrain from using them for political ends.  Following weeks of rising tension, the development follows news footage earlier in the week showing migrants located between the… Continue reading Belarus-Poland crisis: Human rights of trapped migrants ‘paramount’ 

As more people flee violence, insecurity and the effects of climate change, the number forcibly displaced now exceeds 84 million globally, according to new data released on Thursday by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.   UNHCR’s Mid-Year Trends report, covering the first six months of this year, revealed a surge from 82.4 million since December – largely… Continue reading Violence, insecurity and climate change drive 84 million people from their homes

The UN Human Rights High Commissioner has urged Belarus and Poland to urgently resolve the burgeoning migrant crisis on their mutual border, where thousands of people have gathered in an attempt to enter the European Union (EU).  In a statement on Wednesday, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said she was appalled that large numbers of migrants and refugees continue to be left in a… Continue reading Resolve ‘intolerable’ Belarus-Poland border migrant crisis: UN rights chief

Alarmed by the latest reports, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) issued a joint statement calling on States to ensure “the safety and human rights of migrants and refugees”. The border became a flash point after the European Union imposed sanctions on Belarus on the basis of alleged human… Continue reading Uphold safety, human rights on Belarus-Poland border, UN agencies urge

Fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has forced at least 11,000 people to flee to neighbouring Uganda since Sunday night, representing the largest refugee influx in a single day for more than a year, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday.  Women and children comprise the majority of those who… Continue reading Thousands flee DR Congo fighting for Uganda: UNHCR

“We are indeed in a race against time, as emphasized by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, to help these people prepare for winter,” said the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Director-General. People are “broke and broken”, he insisted, after returning from a two-day visit to the country. “More than half the population is struggling to eat, malnutrition… Continue reading Ordinary Afghans ‘broke and broken’, warns UN migration agency chief

A group of UN human rights experts have condemned the United States of America’s recent and ongoing systematic mass deportation of Haitian migrants and refugees, declaring them a violation of international law.  According to their analysis, US policies have also deterred Haitians from pursuing protection including asylum claims and forced them to return to other… Continue reading UN rights experts condemn US expulsion of Haitian migrants and refugees 

At least eight people have died along the border between Belarus and the European Union, where multiple groups of asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants have been stranded for weeks in increasingly dire conditions.  The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, appealed for urgent action on Friday, to save lives and prevent further suffering at the border with Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The latest casualty was reported within the past few days.  UNHCR warned that… Continue reading Conditions worsen for stranded migrants along Belarus-EU border 

The Libyan government must immediately address the dire situation of asylum-seekers and refugees, in a humane manner, consistent with international human rights law, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.  According to UNHCR, authorities carried out raids and arbitrary arrests this month which targeted areas largely populated by refugees and asylum-seekers.  This resulted in several deaths, thousands detained, and many homeless and destitute. … Continue reading Libyan Government plan needed to end ‘dire situation’ of asylum seekers, refugees 

Humanitarian assistance has been ramped up on Yemen’s west coast where ongoing violence has increased the needs of communities displaced by years of conflict, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday. The response has primarily been focused on the two governorates of Ta’iz and Hudaydah, where active frontlines continue to cause instability and force families… Continue reading Humanitarian assistance stepped up on Yemen’s west coast, amid clashes

Spokesperson Shabia Mantoo said Afghan refugees have been approaching UNHCR offices, desperately concerned about the safety and welfare of their loved ones left behind, or living in neighbouring countries.  “While recent political developments in Afghanistan have not led to large-scale cross-border displacement, many among pre-existing Afghan refugee and asylum seeker populations remain separated from their… Continue reading Afghanistan: Reuniting families on the run should be priority, urges UNHCR

In an alert on Tuesday, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said that vulnerable people on the move in the north African nation experience “a myriad daily violations and abuses at the hands of both State and non-state actors.”  These include expulsions of individuals to countries in sub-Saharan Africa without due process, in violation of the principle of… Continue reading Alert over spike in security operations against Libya migrants  

Following an in-depth analysis of the situation in Côte d’Ivoire, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, recommended on Thursday that countries hosting Ivorians end their refugee status, and help them to voluntarily repatriate, obtain permanent residency or began the naturalization process to remain. “In light of the fundamental and durable changes in Côte d’Ivoire, I am… Continue reading UNHCR recommends the end of refugee status for Ivorians by June

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday called for a prompt, thorough, and effective investigation into the killing of a veteran Rohingya activist at a refugee camp in Bangladesh.  Mohib Ullah, chair of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), was shot dead on Wednesday by unknown assailants in the Kutupalong refugee camp in… Continue reading UN rights chief calls for investigation into ‘heartbreaking’ killing of veteran Rohingya activist

Vulnerable Haitian men, women and children on the move in the Americas, should not be expelled from countries where they have found shelter, UN agencies said in a protection appeal on Thursday. In a joint appeal by UN migration agency IOM, the refugee agency UNHCR, Children’s Fund UNICEF, and human rights office OHCHR, they highlighted that many… Continue reading Comprehensive support needed for Haitians facing expulsion in Americas