“This has been a hard-fought 10 days against the backdrop of geopolitical complexities, economic challenges and multilateral strains,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). “However, one thing remains clear: despite these complexities, all countries clearly want to remain at the table.” ‘Deep regret’: Guterres Responding...
Unless an international accord is inked, plastic waste is projected to triple by 2060, causing significant damage – including to human health – according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The UNEP-led talks follow a decision in 2022 by Member States to develop an international legally binding instrument to end the plastic...
“Such actions undermine efforts to build a new Syria at peace with itself and the region, and destabilize Syria at a sensitive time,” Geir Pedersen said on Thursday in a statement. He called on Israel to cease these attacks which could amount to serious violations of international law, to respect...
“The rapid and uninterrupted expansion of the conflict, particularly in South Kivu province, continues to inflict a heavy toll on the civilian population,” said UN humanitarian coordinator for DRC, Bruno Lemarquis. “The population can no longer continue to pay such a heavy price for a conflict that continues to spread...
“It’s early days,” Geir Pedersen said referring to the dramatic events of less than two weeks ago that ended decades of dictatorship. “But I think it is important to say that there is a lot of hope that we can now see the beginning of a new Syria.” He emphasised...
The meeting follows two years of intergovernmental negotiations to develop a legally binding global instrument that covers land and the marine environment – a blink of an eye in diplomatic circles, where multilateral deals can be decades in the making. “Our world is drowning in plastic pollution. Every year, we...
After two weeks of intense negotiations, delegates at COP29, formally the 29th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), agreed to provide this funding annually, with an overall climate financing target to reach “at least $1.3 trillion by 2035”. Countries also agreed on the rules...
The source of the hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of funds that developing nations say will be needed to adapt to a fast-changing climate – governments, multilateral banks, or the private sector – has become a major subject of contention during the last eight days. The good, the bad...
“We can’t lose sight of the forest because we’re tussling over individual trees,” said Simon Stiell, urging delegates to wrap up “less contentious issues” as early as possible this week, so there is enough time for the major political decisions. COP29 opened in the Azerbaijan capital this past Monday with...
“You have every right to be angry, and I am too. You are on the sharp end of a colossal injustice. An injustice that sees the very future of your islands threatened by rising seas; your people pounded by record hurricanes; your economies torn apart,” Mr. Guterres said. Addressing the...
That’s according to UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, briefing reporters in New York who said critical infrastructure in at least four of the capital’s 10 districts have been damaged, including homes, a hospital and a kindergarten. “Water and electricity systems were also hit, but authorities managed to quickly restore these vital supplies”,...
With negotiations on curbing global warming and the future of fossil fuels generating the most buzz as the latest UN climate conference heads towards the finish line – COP28 is scheduled to wrap up next Tuesday – young people and children grabbed the spotlight today. In the lead-up to the...