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    UN Expert Warns of ‘Climate Apartheid’

    UN Expert Warns of ‘Climate Apartheid’

    A UN expert painted a bleak picture Tuesday of how the climate crisis could impact global inequality and human rights, leading to a “climate apartheid” in which the rich pay to flee the consequences while the rest are left behind. The warning came in the form of a report by UN Special Rapporteur on extreme […]

    Climate Change a ‘Key Driver’ Behind Rising Global Hunger

    Climate Change a ‘Key Driver’ Behind Rising Global Hunger

    The number of hungry people in the world has reverted to levels last seen a decade ago, the United Nations warned Tuesday in its annual report on food security and nutrition. Nearly 821 million global citizens—or one out of every nine people—were undernourished in 2017, the third consecutive rise since 2015. Hunger affected 804 million […]

    UN Pact Acknowledges Climate Migration for the First Time

    UN Pact Acknowledges Climate Migration for the First Time

    The final draft of a UN compact on migration published July 11 recognized the existence of climate refugees specifically for the first time, The Thomson Reuters Foundation reported Thursday. The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration acknowledged climate change as a cause of migration, both due to extreme weather and “slow onset events” […]

    UN Launches First-Ever Global Plastics Report on World Environment Day

    UN Launches First-Ever Global Plastics Report on World Environment Day

    The theme for this year’s World Environment Day, the world’s largest environmental celebration which takes place June 5, is “Beat Plastic Pollution.” In honor of the occasion, UN Environment released the first ever “state of plastics” report, tracking government action against plastic waste, a UN Environment press release reported. The report, titled “Single-Use Plastics: A […]

    5 Billion People Could Have Poor Access to Water by 2050, UN Warns

    5 Billion People Could Have Poor Access to Water by 2050, UN Warns

    As the world’s population grows and the planet warms, demand for water will rise but the quality and reliability of the supply is expected to deteriorate, the United Nations said Monday in this year’s World Water Development Report. “We need new solutions in managing water resources so as to meet emerging challenges to water security […]

    It’s Official: 2017 Was the Hottest Year Without an El Niño

    It’s Official: 2017 Was the Hottest Year Without an El Niño

    The United Nations announced Thursday that 2017 was the hottest year on record without an El Niño event kicking up global annual temperatures. Last year’s average surface temperatures—driven by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions—was 1.1 degree Celsius above pre-industrial times, putting the world on course to breach the internationally agreed “1.5°C” temperature barrier […]