NEW YORK, 18 January 2024 (Office of Legal Affairs) — On 16 January 2024, principals of organizations participating in UN-Oceans endorsed a statement of commitments to strengthen and promote coordination and coherence of United Nations system activities in relation to the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ).
Environmental issues and sustainable development
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland today:
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the Sustainable Regional Aviation Forum, in Ponte Delgada, Portugal today:
Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the International Day of Clean Energy, observed on 26 January:
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) officially confirmed in a statement today that 2023 was the warmest year on record — by a huge margin — as the annual average global temperature approached 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. WMO will issue its final “State of the Global Climate” report for 2023 in March.
The following statement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres was issued today:
In Gaza, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory today pointed to the need for a humanitarian ceasefire, given the conditions on the ground. She emphasized that Israel needs to provide for unimpeded humanitarian access and ensure conditions allow for the provision of aid.
In South Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that more than half of the country’s population is going hungry, and an estimated 1.6 million children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition through June 2024.
Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Doha Forum, in Doha, Qatar, today:
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) launched a $1.59 billion regional plan to support the needs of refugees and migrants from Venezuela, as well as their host communities, across 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.