Tipping points are reached when the systems we rely on stop functioning as designed, amplifying the risk of catastrophic impacts, according to new research published by the United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS). The Interconnected Disaster Risks report 2023 finds that the world is fast approaching risk tipping points on multiple fronts….
Mr. Wennesland told an emergency briefing of the Security Council that he “watched in horror and in real time” as reports of mass casualties emerged from Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday. “The circumstances of this catastrophe and responsibility remains and still needs to be clarified. And we will need a fact-based, full investigation…
According to various estimates, up to 75 per cent of extreme weather events are currently connected to climate change, fuelled by carbon emissions. The countries experiencing the greatest losses from disasters are those who contribute the least to the problem. UN figures reveal that from 1970 through 2019, some 91 percent of all of deaths…
Persons with disabilities face a “shocking lack of support” with no progress in the last decade, despite a huge increase in climate disasters worldwide, the new UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) report states, and that lack of progress could be a violation of international law. Persons with disabilities make up 16 per cent…
“The incident reports that we see coming out of Ethiopia are deeply disturbing and constitute a call for action,” said Alice Wairimu Nderitu. “I want to particularly draw the attention of the global community to the continued presence of risk factors for genocide and related atrocity crimes in the country,” she warned on Tuesday. There…
Secretary-General António Guterres issued his call in a statement marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on Tuesday. He warned that hard-won progress over many decades to prevent the use, spread and testing of nuclear weapons is being undone, and called for nuclear disarmament and a strengthened regime of non-proliferation. Resurgent threat…
The latest report from the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia documents atrocities perpetrated “by all parties to the conflict” since 3 November 2020 – the start date of the armed conflict in Tigray – including mass killings, rape, starvation, destruction of schools and medical facilities, forced displacement and arbitrary detention. Commission Chair Mohamed…
This warning comes at a time when almost a quarter of Mali’s population is experiencing moderate or acute food insecurity, with over 2,500 individuals on the brink of famine in the crisis-affected Menaka region, including many vulnerable children. Senior humanitarian officials from UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Food Programme (WFP) visited the country this…
International Youth Day is marked annually on 12 August and the 2023 edition spotlights green skills and the major role young people will play in driving the much-needed shift towards an environmentally sustainable and climate-friendly mindset. These include technical knowledge and skills that enable the effective use of green technologies and processes in occupational settings,…
“We mourn those killed, whose memory will never fade. We remember the terrible destruction wrought upon this city and Hiroshima. We honour the unrelenting strength and resilience of the people of Nagasaki to rebuild,” he said. New arms race Yet despite the terrible lessons of 1945, humanity is now facing a new arms race as…
