The special report on health and climate change, published by the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and the Brazilian Government, warns that one in 12 hospitals could face climate-related shutdowns. It calls for urgent action to protect health systems in a rapidly warming world. This follows Thursday’s launch of the...
After slamming into the island nation on 9 November with winds of around 185 kilometres per hour (or 115 miles per hour) leaving at least six dead, Super Typhoon Fung-wong hit homes, schools and access to health services across 16 regions, UNICEF reported on Thursday. The archipelago has already been exhausted by multiple...
“Healthcare facilities are where the vulnerable seek healing. Yet, without adequate water, sanitation and hygiene, for too many people, expected care can become inadvertent harm,” said Dr. Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Regional Director for Europe. Emphasizing that healthcare is “being tested as never before”, Dr. Kluge insisted that bolstering them is an investment in withstanding crises. As part of this...
After decades of pledges and annual summits from Kyoto to Sharm el-Sheikh, the planet keeps getting hotter and pressure on governments and big business to act – not just talk – has never been greater. Holding COP30 in Belém, at the edge of the world’s largest tropical rainforest, underscores the stakes:...
The move comes ahead of COP30, the UN climate talks where countries will present updated plans to cut planet-warming emissions, alongside measures to protect forests and boost funding for renewable energy. Known as the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, the fund will reward countries that succeed in halting deforestation. Aiming to make...
The warning comes in the latest Emissions Gap Report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), issued on Tuesday ahead of the COP30 climate conference which opens in Belém, Brazil, next week. Nearly a decade has passed since world leaders adopted the Paris Agreement, which aims to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and preferably to a 1.5°C threshold. Climate action plans...
That’s the main message in this year’s Adaptation Gap Report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). By 2035, developing nations will need well over $310 billion per year in dedicated funding to adapt to a planet increasingly altered by polluting fossil-fuel emissions, the report states. “Climate adaptation” refers to the...
Addressing a joint summit between the UN and Southeast Asian nations in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, Secretary-General António Guterres described the region as “a beacon of cooperation” and a vital pillar of global stability. With Timor-Leste’s accession, he said, the collective spirit of the regional organization known as ASEAN had...
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas with 80 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Cutting emissions would deliver rapid, tangible climate benefits, with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reporting that cutting human-caused emissions by around half is one of the most cost-effective ways to slow...
“Early-warning systems work,” he told the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Geneva. “They give farmers the power to protect their crops and livestock. Enable families to evacuate safely. And protect entire communities from devastation.” “We know that disaster-related mortality is at least six times lower in countries with good early-warning systems...
The head of the UNFCCC on Tuesday called for finance to “flow right now”, as delegates prepare to head for the Brazilian city of Belém next month for what is being seen as a crunch summit for turning promises into action. Whether or not countries need to be prepared to...
That’s according to a report released on Friday by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Oxford University ahead of the COP30 climate summit in Brazil next month. By overlaying climate hazard data with multidimensional poverty data for the first time, it reveals how the climate crisis is reshaping global poverty....
