Tag: UN

King Charles urges ‘genuine’ climate action at COP28

By Laurent Thomet, Nick Perry and Talek Harris DUBAI, Dec 1, 2023 (AFP) – King Charles III told world leaders Friday that the UN’s COP28 talks in Dubai must be a turning point in the fight against climate change, as tough negotiations on fossil fuels began. King Charles kicked off two days of speeches by heads of state and government in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, with a stark warning. “We are carrying out a […]

World Bank to operate ‘loss and damage’ climate fund

DUBAI, Dec 1, 2023 (AFP) – The World Bank will “operate” an ambitious new climate change fund, but donors and recipients will likely control how the money is actually spent, the head of the development lender said Friday. More than $400 million has been pledged initially to the new “loss and damage” fund for countries impacted by climate change since it was approved by nations attending the UN’s COP 28 climate summit in Dubai on […]

2023 shatters climate records, set to be hottest year ever: UN

  GENEVA, Nov 30, 2023 (AFP) – This year is set to be the hottest ever recorded, the UN said Thursday, demanding urgent action to rein in global warming and stem the havoc following in its wake. The UN’s World Meteorological Organization warned that 2023 had shattered a whole host of climate records, with extreme weather leaving “a trail of devastation and despair”. “It’s a deafening cacophony of broken records,” said WMO chief Petteri Taalas. […]

Tripling renewable energy by 2030 ‘ambitious but doable’

By Catherine HOURS PARIS, Nov 30, 2023 (AFP) – Host United Arab Emirates wants nearly 200 nations attending the COP28 climate summit starting Thursday to commit to tripling installed renewable energy capacity worldwide by 2030, a goal experts say is “ambitious but achievable”. If the UN forum sets that target in stone, it could become a key marker of COP28’s success, especially if coupled with a pledge to drawn down fossil fuel use. – Why […]

Climate crises drove 27 mn children into hunger in 2022: charity

NAIROBI, Nov 28, 2023 (AFP) – Extreme weather events in countries vulnerable to climate change drove more than 27 million children into hunger last year, Save the Children said on Tuesday. The figure represented a sharp 135 percent increase over 2021, the UK-based charity said in an analysis ahead of the COP28 climate summit opening in Dubai on Thursday. It said children made up nearly half the 57 million people pushed into crisis levels of […]

Sudan’s conflict spreads to new regions, UN warns of “humanitarian calamity”

UNITED NATIONS, United States, Nov 17, 2023 (AFP) – The conflict in Sudan, which has left thousands dead and seven million people displaced over seven months, is spreading to new regions of the nation, the UN said Thursday, warning of a mounting “humanitarian calamity.” The deadly unrest includes outbreaks of interethnic violence and attacks against women, according to the global body. The United Nations assistant secretary-general for Africa, Ghanaian diplomat Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, expressed […]

Northern Myanmar fighting displaces almost 50,000 civilians: UN

YANGON, Nov 10, 2023 (AFP) – Almost 50,000 people have been displaced by fighting in northern Myanmar after an alliance of ethnic armed groups launched an offensive against the military two weeks ago, the United Nations said Friday. “As of 9 November, almost 50,000 people in northern Shan were forced into displacement,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in an update. Fighting has raged for two weeks across northern […]

El Nino set to last at least til April: UN

GENEVA, Nov 8, 2023 (AFP) – The El Nino weather phenomenon, which triggers higher global temperatures, is expected to last until at least April 2024, the United Nations said on Wednesday. El Nino is a naturally occurring climate pattern typically associated with increased heat worldwide, as well as drought in some parts of the world and heavy rains elsewhere. The UN’s World Meteorological Organization said the current El Nino, which developed rapidly during July-August this […]

S.Sudan floods leave 1.6 million children at risk of hunger: UN

NAIROBI, Nov 6, 2023 (AFP) – More than 1.6 million children aged under five will suffer from malnutrition next year in South Sudan, following a surge in waterborne diseases due to flooding, the UN’s World Food Programme said Monday. The world’s newest nation has endured deadly conflict, natural disasters, economic malaise and relentless political infighting since it won independence from Sudan in 2011. As flooding becomes an annual affair in some parts of the country, […]

Israel renews Gaza camp strikes as UN warns of ‘war crimes’

By Mai YAGHI with Rosie Scammell in Jerusalem RAFAH, Palestinian Territories, Nov 2, 2023 (AFP) – Israel hit Gaza’s largest refugee camp with renewed air strikes Wednesday, prompting UN rights officials to warn that targeting densely populated residential areas “could amount to war crimes.” Bombs struck the Jabalia camp for a second time in two days, pulverising buildings and, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, killing dozens of people. AFP witnessed extensive damage at the […]

Gaza ‘civil order starting to break down’ as food stores ransacked: UN

GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Oct 29, 2023 (AFP) – The United Nations warned Sunday that “civil order” was starting to collapse in Gaza after thousands of people ransacked its food warehouses in the war-torn Palestinian territory. The UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said wheat, flour and other supplies had been pillaged at several warehouses. “This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and […]

Ground battles rage in Gaza as communications cut off

By Adel Zaanoun GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Oct 28, 2023 (AFP) – Battles were raging in Gaza early on Saturday, as Israel expanded its ground operations and cut communications to the Palestinian territory, three weeks after the deadliest attack in the country’s history. The United Nations warned of a looming “unprecedented avalanche of human suffering” inside the Gaza Strip, following weeks of relentless bombing by Israel, while the General Assembly pushed for an “immediate humanitarian […]