When Tropical Cyclone Freddy slammed into Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi, 32,000 pregnant women were due to give birth within weeks. The destruction of homes, health facilities and travel routes during the cyclone made childbirth much more perilous. Around 5,000 of the women could expect to experience complications in their final months of pregnancy or during childbirth, which, without access to skilled care, could prove fatal. A climate crisis is an obstetric emergency. After a two-hour journey on an ambulance recently repaired by , Mercy, 37, gave birth to healthy twin boys.
El Niño is coming, warns . Early warnings and anticipatory action of extreme weather events associated with this major climate phenomenon are vital to save lives and livelihoods.
In Bentiu in South Sudan, climate change is not just an environmental issue, it is a challenge to people’s very existence. Four years of historic rains in this region have submerged farmlands, ancestral homes and road. Some 360,000 people have fled due to the floods. They now live in internal displacement sites below the waterline, hemmed in by dikes. While the mainstream debate surrounding climate change centres on the world becoming uninhabitable in the future, in Bentiu it is already a reality. continues to build drainage systems and taller dikes in preparation for the rains.
During the , held during the , the crucial importance of action to protect the ocean was highlighted, as well as the need for the ocean to feature prominently in all relevant aspects of the process. The June Ocean Dialogue coincided with preparations for the upcoming in the United Arab Emirates at the end of the year, where the outcomes of the will be a key focus, along with other ways to increase ambition on climate change.
Haiti’s hunger crisis is unseen, unheard, and unaddressed leaving more than 4.9 million Haitians struggling to eat day-to-day. Pervasive insecurity and extreme weather conditions are inhibiting access to the rich food productive areas in the region. is optimistic that despite these challenges, empowering the local community will build long-term capacities in bridging the food crisis. There needs to be a multi-sector response and investments in the local grassroot organizations to stabilize in Haiti.
Fashion has one of the most powerful marketing engines that influences the identities, values, and actions of billions of people. This, in turn, impacts consumption patterns, a . and launched the , a guide with an , on how to align consumer-facing communication in the fashion industry with sustainable targets in accordance to the Paris Agreement. Its purpose is to reduce the carbon print and overconsumption, demand action, and inspire sustainable lifestyles.
Small-scale farmers in developing countries are only one flood, one drought or one failed harvest away from ruin. asks "Tomorrow is a new day. What will it look like?"
In the words of rice farmer Deur Sok, the difference the 2.3km canal built in 2022 as part of a -backed project is making in Sambour, a commune in central Cambodia’s Kampong Thom province is tremendous. Changing weather patterns in the past few years have caused an unpredictable succession of drought and flooding, which spelled disaster for farmers relying on so-called wet season – or rainfed – rice cultivation. Farmers in the region had seen their plants wilt when there was not enough water – or washed away when there was too much. The canal has broken their dependence on erratic weather events and as a result, their yields have more than doubled.
Benazir and her husband lost a child amidst the tumult of the floods and have since faced challenges trying to feed their other children. The impact of last year’s historic floods will be felt for years to come by children and their families. In these climate-related crises children suffer most, with those in the poorest communities bearing the biggest burden. More than 1.5 million boys and girls are already severely malnourished, a number that will only rise in the absence of safe water and proper sanitation. is training teachers on psychosocial care and health care and has established hundreds of temporary learning centres in the worst-affected districts.
Nearly two weeks after Cyclone Mocha, a grim certainty looms as the coastal areas of and enters monsoon season. The cyclone has sent food prices soaring and wiped-out people’s slender food stocks. But now Mocha’s devastation has only deepened hunger already sharpened by the country’s conflict and political and economic crises. has distributed hot meals and emergency food assistance to thousands of people in the immediate aftermath of the storm. A funding shortfall is threatening WFP's response in both countries.
Cities, as engines of prosperity, have been major contributors to climate change. A by the suggests that cities also hold one of the keys to solving the climate crisis. By 2050, nearly 70% of the world’s population will call cities their home. The report examines over 10,000 cities to determine how green, how resilient, and how inclusive they are while examining the two-way relationship between cities and climate change. The report offers guidance to policymakers on how to help their cities become greener, more resilient, and more inclusive.
After three years of drought, more than 23 million people across parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia face severe hunger. When the region’s long-awaited rains arrived in March, they should have brought some relief. But instead, flash flooding inundated homes and farmland, washed away livestock, and closed schools and health facilities. Mortality and malnutrition rates remain a serious cause for concern. and partners launched a rapid scale up of life-saving assistance in drought-hit Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, which helped to keep famine at bay in Somalia.
The likelihood of El Niño developing this year is increasing, according to - creating opposite impacts on weather and climate patterns to La Niña that would fuel higher global temperatures.
Climate change continued its advance in 2022, according to the annual report from the . Droughts, floods and heatwaves affected communities on every continent and cost billions of dollars. Antarctic sea ice fell to its lowest extent on record and the melting of some European glaciers was great. The shows the planetary scale changes on land, in the ocean and in the atmosphere caused by record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. The years 2015-2022 were the eight warmest on record despite the cooling impact of a La Niña event for the past three years.
Shifting to a low-carbon economy can unlock new jobs and opportunities but it must be done in a way that is fair and possible for everyone, according to a from .