The Security Council met today to discuss escalating attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, including its energy infrastructure and ports, ahead of winter, with speakers deploring the consequent worsening of global food insecurity and renewing their call on the Russian Federation to cease its war of aggression, now entering its twenty-second month.

The Panel of External Auditors’ sixty-third session, chaired by Isma Yatun, Chair of the Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia, was held from 20-21 November at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The thirty-third Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea will be resumed at Headquarters on 28 November, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., for the purpose of filling seats in the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf allocated to the members of the Commission from Eastern European States.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Ramtane Lamamra of Algeria as his Personal Envoy for Sudan.

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

Recognizing and advocating the importance of a rancour-free and non-retaliatory work environment made possible by amicably mediated disputes, delegates at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today called for sustained efforts in entrenching the principles of accountability, due process and the rule of law at the United Nations, at the same time strengthening these processes to also accommodate non-staff personnel.

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today approved 16 resolutions on a range of topics, from information and communications technologies for sustainable development to agriculture development, food security and nutrition, with 14 of the texts approved by consensus.

In an unusual move, the General Assembly today voted on a draft resolution, annually adopted by consensus, on sport as an enabler for sustainable development, in a meeting during which most delegations displayed broad agreement that the Olympic and Paralympic Games can be a “game changer” by bringing people together and serving as a powerful engine for economic growth.

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 Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today approved 15 resolutions, voting on 3 of them, including a text by which the General Assembly would request the Secretary-General to further encourage the United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms to conduct its priority activities as identified by the Coalition’s five working groups: knowledge-sharing, capacity-building, training, awareness-raising and support.