United Nations – Page 6 – Desdemona Despair

Projections of GHG emissions under different scenarios to 2050 and indications of emissions gap and global warming implications over this century (medians only). Looking beyond 2030, this figure projects global GHG emissions out to 2050 under different scenarios and indicates the associated global warming implications over this century. The figure illustrates the substantial increase in the emissions gap for 2050 if climate efforts implied by current policies and NDC scenarios are continued without further strengthening. Implementation of net-zero targets by around mid-century would significantly reduce these gaps, but even then, gaps with the 1.5°C scenarios would remain. Graphic: UNEP

November 1, 2022

UN: Inadequate progress on climate action makes rapid transformation of societies only option – “It is a tall, and some would say impossible, order to reform the global economy and almost halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, but we must try”

NAIROBI, 27 October 2022 – As intensifying climate impacts across the globe hammer home the message that greenhouse gas emissions must fall rapidly, a new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report finds that the international community is still falling far short of the Paris goals, with no credible pathway to 1.5°C in place. However, the Emissions Gap Report […]

Somalis who left rural areas due to drought receive nutritional assistance at a camp for the internally displaced on the outskirts of Baidoa, in the Southwest State of Somalia, Wednesday, 12 October 2022. Photo: Geneva Costopulos / WFP / AP

October 29, 2022

UN: Almost 1 million drought-hit Somalis in al-Shabab areas – Onset of the October-December deyr rains has either been late or performed poorly across most of Somalia

By Cara Anna 26 October 2022 NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – The United Nations says close to 1 million drought-affected people in Somalia are in areas under the control or influence of the al-Shabab extremist group, and it appealed to the fighters to allow humanitarian access as famine threatens the country. The U.N. secretary-general’s special representative in Somalia, […]

A child holds on to his belongings as families move to safer areas after flood water moved into their village houses in Naseerabad district, Balochistan province of Pakistan in September 2022. Photo: Sami Malik / UNICEF

October 29, 2022

Pakistan requires $16 billion to rebuild as damages due to deadly floods exceed $30 billion – Food crisis looms after farmland area larger than the Czech Republic flooded

By Anwesha Majumdar 29 October 2022 (Republic World) – In the aftermath of the devastating floods in Pakistan, more than 33 million people have been affected by the calamity, which has cost the nation over $30 billion in damages as the torrential rains destroyed bridges, crops, highways, and other infrastructure, killing more than 1,000 people. According to […]

Map showing Biodiversity Intactness Index for the year 2020 at 0.25° resolution. The global average is 77 percent. Data: Natural History Museum, 2022. Graphic: WWF / ZSL

October 27, 2022

WWF’s Living Planet Report 2022 reveals devastating 69 percent average drop in wildlife populations since 1970 – “We have cut away the very foundation of life and the situation continues to worsen”

TORONTO, 12 October 2022 (WWF-Canada) – Monitored wildlife populations — mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish — have seen a devastating 69 per cent drop on average since 1970 according to WWF’s Living Planet Report (LPR) 2022. The report highlights the stark outlook of the state of nature and urgently warns governments, businesses and the public to take […]

A child in a refugee camp carries water in Somalia, 2022. Somalia faces widespread famine after four failed rainy seasons, with a fifth season underway that likely will fail too, along with the sixth early in 2023. Photo: Fazel / UNICEF

October 26, 2022

UNICEF: Heatwaves to impact almost every child on earth by 2050 – “The climate crisis is a child rights crisis, and it is already taking a devastating toll on children’s lives and futures”

25 October 2022 (UN News) – Heatwaves have become an unavoidable health hazard for many nations, but new data indicates that they are set to affect virtually every child on earth by 2050, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, warned on Tuesday. Today, at least half a billion youngsters are already exposed to a high number of heatwaves, placing them on […]

A satellite image shows gas from the Nord Stream pipeline bubbling up in the water following incidents in the Baltic Sea, in this handout picture released 29 September 2022. Roscosmos / REUTERS

October 24, 2022

Nord Stream rupture may mark biggest single methane release ever recorded, U.N. says – “This is the most wasteful way to generate emissions”

By Richard Valdmanis; editing by Frances Kerry and Howard Goller 30 September 2022 (Reuters) – The ruptures on the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline system under the Baltic Sea have led to what is likely the biggest single release of climate-damaging methane ever recorded, the United Nations Environment Programme said on Friday. A huge plume […]

Aerial view of flooding in South Sudan following fourth year of historic rainfall, 18 October 2022. Photo: UNHCR

October 23, 2022

Devastation in South Sudan following fourth consecutive year of historic floods – Two-thirds of country experiencing flooding – More than 900,000 people directly impacted

21 October 2022 (UNHCR) – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is urging international support for humanitarian efforts in South Sudan in the face of record-breaking rains and floods for a fourth consecutive year, and the threat of worse to come as the climate crisis accelerates. Two-thirds of the country is currently experiencing flooding. Over 900,000 […]

People walk through floodwaters after heavy rainfall in Hadeja, Nigeria, 19 September 2022. Officials in Nigeria say the death toll from this year's flooding has now risen to 603. Authorities have called the floods the country's worst in more than a decade, blaming the disaster on unusually heavy rainfall and the release of excess water from the Lagdo dam in neighboring Cameroon. Photo: AP Photo

October 21, 2022

Millions of people at risk in Nigeria after worst floods in a decade – More than 1.3 million displaced – Cholera outbreak sickens 6,000 – 100,000 hectares of farmland underwater – Rains to continue through November – “This is a catastrophe indeed. All of these wrong things are happening at the same time.”

21 October 2022 (UN News) – More than 2.8 million people have been impacted by Nigeria’s worst floods in a decade, with 1.3 million displaced and hundreds of lives lost, said the UN chief on Friday, expressing his sadness at the devastation. Infrastructure and farmland have also been damaged, said the statement issued on behalf […]

A boy stands beside a sugarcane field, which is submerged by floodwaters due to heavy monsoon rains, in Dera Allahyar area of Jaffarabad, a district of southwestern Baluchistan province, Pakistan, Saturday, 17 September 2022. Photo: Zahid Hussain / AP Photo

September 27, 2022

Fear of widespread hunger after Pakistan floods wreck crops – Dengue surges, hospitals overwhelmed by sheer number of patients – “These rains have destroyed everything for us. We don’t even have anything to eat.”

27 September 2022 (Grain Brokers Australia) – A food crisis of epic proportions is brewing in Pakistan due to torrential rains and catastrophic flooding in late August and early September. Less than 40 per cent of Pakistan’s land area is arable, yet around one-third of the country’s land mass was submerged, demonstrating the sheer scale […]

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on 20 September 2022. Photo: Anadolu Images

September 27, 2022

UN meeting produces sense that a “new epoch” is arriving – “We are gridlocked in colossal global dysfunction. Our world is in peril – and paralyzed.”

By Edith M. Lederer 27 September 2022 UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The war in Ukraine and its global fallout transfixed the meeting of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly this year. When it wasn’t out front, it lurked in the background of virtually every speech. There were near-unanimous calls for an end to the […]