The Secretary-General launched the 2023 United Nations Environment Programme Emissions Gap report, warning that if nothing changes, in 2030 emissions will be 22 gigatons higher than the 1.5°C limit will allow and roughly the total annual emissions of the United States, China and the European Union combined.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today launched its Production Gap Report, which reveals that Governments are on track to produce more than twice the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be needed to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

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

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today that more than 11,600 children crossed the Central Mediterranean Sea to Italy without a parent or legal guardian. That’s between January and mid-September 2023. This is an increase of 60 per cent compared to the same period last year.

At a 21 September high-level meeting, co-hosted by Jordan and Sweden in support of Palestine Refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as well as Member States, reaffirmed their strong political support for the Agency.

A report released today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and its partners is offering solutions to decarbonize the building and construction sector. The report says that the construction sector is currently responsible for 37 per cent of global emissions.

In Niger, the United Nations, along with its partners, continues to deliver assistance across the country. In Tahoua, in the country’s south-west, humanitarians have provided medical care, reproductive health services and nutrition to over 1,000 people through mobile clinics.

In Haiti, amid intensifying violence, Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, called for urgent action to be taken on the UN Secretary-General’s appeal for a non-United Nations multinational force to support the Haitian police in addressing the grave security situation and restoring the rule of law.

According to the World Food Programme, some 7.3 million food-insecure people could see their situation worsen due to the unfolding crisis in Niger. Humanitarian exemptions to sanctions and border closures are required to avert a rapid deterioration of the food security and malnutrition situation.

In Ukraine, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator there condemned a new wave of attacks over the weekend, which once again damaged houses, hospitals and schools and killed and injured dozens of people, including children.