Environmental issues and sustainable development

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the Daring Cities Virtual Forum:  Urban Leaders and Climate Change, in Bonn today:

The World Food Programme in South Sudan strongly condemned an attack on its boat convoy near Shambe carrying food assistance intended for people displaced after losing their homes and crops to floods.  One of the 13-person crew is missing and presumed killed, and three others are suffering from gunshot wounds.

The United Nations is increasingly concerned about the impact of Syria’s economic downturn.  Food prices there have more than tripled in the past year, a record 9.3 million people are food insecure, and without future support, over 2 million more risk being pushed further into hunger, according to the World Food Programme.

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary‑General Amina Mohammed’s video message on the occasion of the Virtual C20 Summit Panel “In Dire Straits:  The Need for Collective Action for Water Security”, today:

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the Sustainable Development Goals Conference and Human Rights Festival, which opened in Berlin today:

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs today said that they remain deeply concerned about the ongoing hostilities along the line of contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, calling on all sides to immediately end the fighting and respect international human rights and humanitarian law.

Following is the text of UN Deputy Secretary‑General Amina Mohammed’s video message on the occasion of seventy‑fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly high‑level side event “Building Back Better for Everyone and with Everyone - Protecting and Promoting Civic Space in the Context of a Crisis”, today:

Without aid, more than 5 million people in Somalia could face acute food insecurity by the end of 2020 due to the combined effects of flooding, the desert locust infestation, and the COVID-19 pandemic, among other challenges, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The COVID‑19 pandemic is a wake‑up call to the world to halt an alarming decline in its rich biological diversity, but it is also a unique opportunity to put bold and ambitious environmental action at the heart of national post‑coronavirus economic recovery strategies as the international community strives to fulfil the Sustainable Development Goals, speakers said today as the General Assembly hosted the first‑ever global summit ever dedicated to biodiversity.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed’s closing remarks at the Biodiversity Summit, held today: