In progress at UNHQ

Environmental issues and sustainable development


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The world has the means, money, skills and vaccines to strike a monumental post‑pandemic shift towards an inclusive, connected and healthy planet for all, and the time for hesitation is over, world leaders declared at the opening of the ministerial segment of the 2021 high-level political forum on sustainable development today.

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Experts today explored ways to scale up public and private financing for post-pandemic economic recovery, climate action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as the 2021 high-level political forum on sustainable development, convened under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, entered its second week.

The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat has a new draft Global Biodiversity Framework to guide actions worldwide through 2030 to preserve and protect nature, and its essential services to people.  It will serve as the basis for negotiations at the Biodiversity Conference in Kunming, China, in October.

Humanitarian officials in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said the entry of goods into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing remains limited, and some 250,000 people are still without regular access to piped water.  They called for a return to the predictable entry of goods and the easing of movement restrictions.

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Inequality and exclusion have deeply impaired the ability to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, which, in turn, further widened such disparity, demonstrating the dangerous links between health and inequality, experts warned, as the high‑level political forum on sustainable development moved into the third day of its two-week session.

The World Meteorological Organization and its partners today released the first Hydromet Gap report, which states that an estimated 23,000 lives could be saved annually and at least $162 billion per year in potential benefits could be realized by improving weather forecasts, early warning systems, and climate information.