What's New

A host of countries have recently announced major commitments to significantly cut their carbon emissions, promising to reach "net zero" in the coming years. The term is becoming a global rallying cry, frequently cited as a necessary step to successfully beat back climate change, and the devastation it is causing.

What is net zero and why is it important?

Put simply, net zero means we are not adding new emissions to the atmosphere. Emissions will continue, but will be balanced by absorbing an equivalent amount from the atmosphere.

This year is on track to be one of the three hottest on record, completing a run of six years that were all hotter than any year ever measured before, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday.  

The relentless rise of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere – a phenomenon that has continued despite a travel lull during the pandemic – will fuel temperature rise for decades to come. 

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has described the fight against the climate crisis as the top priority for the 21st Century, in a passionate, uncompromising speech delivered on Wednesday at Columbia University in New York.

An additional 207 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty by severe long term impact of the coronavirus pandemic – bringing the total number to more than 1 billion – by 2030, a new study from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has found. 

There is “a deep sense of worry about the grim realities” of life faced by those living in occupied Palestinian Territory, the UN chief said on Tuesday, pointing to the “diminishing prospects of resolving the conflict” with Israel, that has been with the UN since its creation 75 years ago.   

With the COVID-19 pandemic heightening the dangers of gender-based violence and human trafficking, action on these two fronts is needed now more than ever, the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on Monday. 

Last week saw the first global decline in newly reported cases of COVID-19 since September, the head of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday, advising that the news, while welcome, must be interpreted with “extreme caution”. 

A record 235 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection next year, a near- 40 per cent increase on 2020 which is “almost entirely from COVID-19”, the UN’s emergency relief chief said on Tuesday. 

The United Nations Secretary-General has called for “renewed determination” to eliminate chemical weapons from the world. 

Gaps in life-saving interventions are undermining efforts to curb malaria, amid fears that the coronavirus pandemic could set back the fight against the disease even further, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has said. 

According to the World Malaria Report, released on Monday, the situation is particularly concerning in high-burden countries in Africa.