"DEFORESTATION"

Today in Lisbon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, addressed the opening ceremony of the 2022 Ocean Conference, along with the leaders of the two co-hosting nations – Portugal and Kenya and warned that we have taken the ocean for granted, and today we face what he would call an “Ocean Emergency”, adding that "we must now turn the tide." UNIFEED

According to the World Health Organization, tobacco lays waste to the environment, besides killing 8 million people a year. WHO

Briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

According to the United Nations Development Programme, a trifecta of the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the newly felt effects of the Russia-Ukraine war, and the climate-related challenges have severely impacted efforts to sustain peace and reduce poverty and inequality in the African continent. UNTV CH

A day after visiting Maiduguri, in embattled Borno State, Secretary-General António Guterres today (4 May) met with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja and said, “violence continues to cast the shadow of death over so many Nigerians,” but added that he “came out of Borno with the sense that Nigeria is able to defeat this threat.” UNIFEED

FAO’s 37th Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean region ended on Friday in Quito, Ecuador, underscoring the importance of sustainable agrifood systems, prosperous and inclusive rural societies, and sustainable and resilient agriculture. FAO

After extending the COP26 climate negotiations an extra day, nearly 200 countries in Glasgow, adopted on Saturday an outcome document that, according to the UN Secretary-General, reflects the interests, the contradictions, and the state of political will in the world today. UNIFEED

“Pockets of famine” have been declared in Southern Madagascar, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday, after warning that the country’s most vulnerable people are the victims of what is likely the world’s first climate change-induced famine. UNTV CH

In a historic declaration at COP26, global leaders including Xi Jinping, Joe Biden and Jair Bolsonaro signed the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forest and Land Use, committing countries to halt and reverse global deforestation over the next decade as part of a multibillion-dollar package to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. UNIFEED

Ahead of the annual UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) on 31 October, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned that the world is ‘way off-track’ in containing global temperature rise with the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2), the most important greenhouse gas, reaching 413.2 parts per million in 2020. This is 149 per cent of the pre-industrial level. UNTV CH