50 UNESCO World Heritage sites are home to glaciers, representing almost 10% of the Earths total glacierized area. They include the highest (next to Mt. Everest), the longest (in Alaska), and the last remaining glaciers in Africa. New data highlight the accelerated melting of glaciers in World Heritage sites, with glaciers in a third of sites set to disappear by 2050. But it is still possible to save the other two thirds, if the rise in global temperatures does not exceed 1.5簞C compared to the pre-industrial period. This is a major challenge for COP27.
Climate Change
Our health depends on the health of the ecosystems that surround us, and these ecosystems remain under threat from deforestation, agriculture, changes in land use and rapid urban development. issues a grim reminder that the climate crisis continues to make people sick and jeopardizes lives. Health must be at the core of climate change negotiations. COP27 is a crucial opportunity for the world to re-commit to keeping the 1.5 簞C Paris Agreement goal alive. Tacking the climate crisis requires progress on mitigation, adaptation, financing and collaboration.
To avert a climate catastrophe, we need bold, credible net-zero emissions pledges matched by concrete actions. Governments have the biggest responsibility, but businesses, investors, cities, states, and regions must also live up to their emissions cuts promises. A high-level expert group convened by the UN Secretary-General has developed a report with stronger and clearer findings, recommendations, and standards for net-zero emissions pledges by non-State entities. Ant籀nio Guterres stressed today that using bogus net-zero pledges to cover up massive fossil fuel expansion is reprehensible.
Where would you go if you were running out of water and drought had destroyed your crops? This is the kind of choice faced by millions of climate migrants each year. Yonas, his wife Aisha, and their son Addisu have seen their crops wither, their cattle die, and their water sources dry up. Their story is brought to life in 'Flight for Life', a new short animation produced by UN Video in collaboration with the renowned Iranian animator Majid Adin. Find out more about the climate crisis and solutions here.
Peoples livelihoods are threatened by climate change. The world needs to come together to ramp up climate action and ensure no one is left behind.
A new report from shows greenhouse gas emissions decreasing but underlines that these efforts remain insufficient to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
Heatwaves, droughts, floods, and storms are increasing in intensity and frequency and impacting peoples ability to feed their families. As world leaders prepare to meet in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt for the UN Climate Change Conference (), is calling on world leaders to act swiftly to help millions of people facing rising hunger and famine. The UN agency is urging global leaders to invest in systems that predict climate hazards and provide physical and financial protection to the most vulnerable. It is calling on world leaders to invest in climate action in communities in fragile contexts and to transform food systems. about the coordinated action needed to tackle the climate crisis.
Climate action is urgent. Without early and concerted climate and development action, over 216 million people could become internal climate migrants by 2050. The human mobility implications of the climate crisis are profound. We must act urgently, involving the whole society. We must strengthen peoples resilience and move from negotiation to implementation. At COP27, we must deliver for humanity, for its dignity and for future generations. At COP27, we must leave no one behind. Find out more about s work to help climate migrants.
From 6 to 18 November, Heads of State and government representatives, along with climate activists, civil society and CEOs will meet in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt for the largest annual gathering on climate action. This 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change known as COP27 - aims to deliver action to tackle the climate emergency. Faced with a growing energy crisis, record greenhouse gas levels, and increasing extreme weather events, COP27 seeks renewed solidarity between countries, to deliver on the landmark Paris Agreement.
The Third Pole is an area of Asia that contains continuous ranges of high glaciated mountains. It is the 3rd largest storage of frozen water on Earth and contains every peak taller than 7,000 metres. As these enormous glaciers melt, the number of glacial lakes has grown. These are often only tenuously held in check by moraine dams, glacial ice or even just bedrock. When any part of these fragile buffers fail, the resulting deluge is a glacial lake outburst flood, or GLOF. The GLOF drains the entire lake down neighbouring valleys and can threaten peoples lives, livelihoods, and regional infrastructure. is working to prevent GLOFs in Bhutan, Nepal, and Pakistan.
The concentration of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere is wreaking havoc across the world and threatening lives, economies, health and food. For over a decade, the has provided a yearly review of the difference between where greenhouse emissions are predicted to be in 2030 and where they should be to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. This years report will provide an update on global emissions pathways and progress towards achieving national mitigation pledges and the Paris Agreement goals. Find out more at todays .
Weeks of heavy rains and floods have affected 5 million people in 19 countries across West and Central Africa, killing hundreds, displacing tens of thousands and destroying many hectares of croplands. is working with governments to support flood-hit communities. The UN agencys emergency assistance provided through food and cash distributions, keeps vulnerable families afloat amid a broader economic downturn, as the war in Ukraine feeds skyrocketing food, fertilizer and fuel prices. that allow governments to better prepare and recover from future floods and other weather disasters, which will likely become more devastating and frequent with climate change.
Around 33 million people, including 16 million children, have been affected by this years torrential monsoon rains in Pakistan triggering the most severe flooding in the countrys recent history. Villages have been washed away leaving about 3.4 million children in need of assistance and at an increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition. is helping deliver safe drinking water, medical supplies, therapeutic food supplies and hygiene kits to children and families. The UN agency is establishing temporary learning centres and supporting the protection and psychosocial wellbeing of children affected by these devastating floods.
An anticipated rise in the frequency, intensity and duration of heatwaves and an associated increase in wildfires this century is likely to worsen air quality, harming human health and ecosystems. The interaction between pollution and climate change will impose an additional climate penalty for hundreds of millions of people, according to a from the World Meteorological Organization (). The climate penalty refers specifically to the climate change amplification effect on ground-level ozone production, which negatively impacts the air people breathe.
As the globe warms, wildfires and associated air pollution are expected to increase, even under a low emissions scenario. In addition to human health impacts, this will also affect ecosystems as air pollutants settle from the atmosphere to Earths surface, says .
The World Food Programme () is rapidly expanding its food assistance support in as the Government takes stock of floods which have killed nearly 1,000 people and displaced 33 million.
Through its National Disaster Management Authority, the Government which has declared a national emergency is leading the response in coordinating assessments and directing humanitarian relief to flood-affected people. For their part, UN agencies such as WFP are providing augmented information, together with the Government, to ensure we have greater verification of exactly who should avail themselves of that cash. .