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The world’s running out of time to limit global temperature rise to below two degrees Celsius, a matter of life or death for climate vulnerable countries on the front line of the crisis, the UN Secretary General reiterated on Thursday.

Speaking to the first Climate Vulnerable Finance Summit of 48 nations systemically exposed to climate related disasters, António Guterres said they needed reassurance that financial and technical support will be forthcoming.

The global death toll due to COVID-19 officially passed four million late on Wednesday, marking yet another “grim milestone” and underlining the urgent need for the world to put a Global Vaccine Plan in place to get the pandemic under control, said the UN chief in a statement.

Equitable distribution of equipment and medicines to fight COVID-19 is the only way out of the global crisis, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, in remarks to a meeting of the advisory group making the case for investing in these tools. 

The world was not on track to meet the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) before COVID-19 struck, and now the challenge has been magnified many times over, according to a new flagship UN report that indicates countries must take ‘critical’ steps on the road out of the pandemic, during the next 18 months.

As a witness to the impacts of Syria’s internal conflict over the last decade, Bassel Al-Madani, a young engineer and former volunteer with the UN, was inspired to set up Entrepioneers 2030, a group that rallies youth to get involved in shaping the future of their country. 

"Despite the difficult times we have been living through, Syrian youth still have the ambition and hope to develop and empower communities.

Some 50 ministers outlined their plans to reduce emissions and ensure that all people have access to electricity and clean cooking fuels, as the world transitions away from fossil fuels, towards renewable energy.

With the chief of the UN’s gender empowerment agency declaring that women are still “sitting in the corridors when men are inside at the table negotiating peace”, the historic Generation Equality Forum in Paris concluded on Friday with new commitments designed to address that, and other injustices.

With over 4.6 billion internet users around the world, digital advances continue to revolutionize human life, but “we must remain vigilant” in the face of malicious technologies that “could imperil the security of future generations”, the head of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA) told the Security Council on Tuesday. 

Lebanon’s electricity reform should be a top priority for the government to prove it is capable of resolving decades of state mismanagement, the regional director of the World Bank said.

Saroj Kumar Jha said Lebanon’s current fiscal problems and piles of national debt relate to the mismanagement of the electricity sector.

Without an urgent injection of cash, billions globally are at risk of still being without lifesaving access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services by 2030, according to a new UN report published on Thursday.