"FORESTS"

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka of Uganda was granted the Champion of the Earth award for 2021 in the Science and Innovation category by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). UNEP

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) name Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados as Champion of the Earth in the Policy Leadership category for her powerful voice for a sustainable world. UNEP

A large group of asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants has been stranded near the border between Belarus and Poland in the vicinity of the Bruzgi (Belarus) / Kuznica (Poland) official border crossing point since 8 November. UNHCR, and its partner the Belarus Red Cross Society, are there providing emergency aid. UNHCR

More than 25,000 indigenous people in the Republic of the Congo are at risk of statelessness. Many do not have identity papers like birth certificates and live in desperately poor conditions in remote parts of the country. They often face discrimination and are forced to work in menial jobs. The government and UNHCR are working together to change their plight by providing birth certificates, a first step in ensuring they are protected. UNHCR

COP26 President Alok Sharma today said that despite not meeting the 2020 target of 100 billion, he expressed confidence in OECD analyses which predicted the target would be met in 2022 and 2023, and “over the five-year period from 2021-2025, we will likely be above 500 billion dollars in aggregate.” UNIFEED

Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of cyclones that threaten both Bangladeshis and the Rohingya refugees living in the hastily constructed settlements in Cox’s Bazar District. UNHCR

As climate talks get underway in Glasgow, families in Southern Madagascar, where climate is driving famine-like conditions, brace themselves for yet another harsh year ahead as the ongoing drought shows no signs of abating, signaling deteriorating hunger. WFP

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

At the opening of the COP26 Summit in Glasgow, UN chief Antonio Guterres called for greater ambition on mitigation and immediate concrete action to reduce global emissions by 45 per cent by 2030. He told world leaders, “Enough treating nature like a toilet,” adding, “We are digging our own graves.” UNIFEED

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