Environmental issues and sustainable development

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, heavy rainfall caused flooding in multiple sites in Khan Younis and Gaza City where displaced families are staying. People’s tents and other belongings were damaged by the rains. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners have been carrying out field visits to assess the impact of the latest rains.

Following is the text of UN Secretary General António Guterres’ video message to the International Finance Forum 2024 annual meeting, in Hong Kong, special administrative region of China, today:

The following statement by UN Secretary-General António Guterres was issued today:

The World Food Programme (WFP) today urgently appealed for $16.9 billion to address global food needs and the alarming gap between needs and resources. WFP’s Global Outlook 2025 shows that 343 million human beings across 74 countries are acutely food insecure, 10 per cent more than in 2023.

In Sudan, the World Food Programme (WFP) reports that since the war began 19 months ago there, the first domestic UN flight travelled today from Port Sudan to Kassala. The WFP-managed flights will now offer regular flights to transport aid workers and light humanitarian cargo from Port Sudan to Kassala once a week.

In Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that bakeries serving as lifelines for hundreds of thousands of hungry or starving Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are on the verge of shutting down due to lack of flour and fuel. This comes at a time when parts of Gaza are at risk of famine.

Tropical Storm Sara has brought heavy rains and strong winds to Central America, impacting nearly 180,000 people. The teams in the region, under the leadership of Resident Coordinators, are supporting Government-led efforts on the ground in the areas of coordination, technical assistance and monitoring.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to a session on sustainable development and energy transition at the Group of 20 (G20) Summit, in Rio de Janeiro today:

Despite pledges to slash methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 — key to getting global warming under control, only 1 per cent of the Methane Alert and Response System in the past year were responded to, a UN Environment Programme report released today states. The system is an untapped opportunity for climate action.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the twenty-ninth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) high-level event on the Stocktake of Integrity Matters – Implementation of the High-Level Expert Group on the Net-Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities, in Baku today: