Minamata Convention pivots to enforcement, illegal trade control
A new strategy will focus heavily on controlling black market flows, leveraging a decision to phase-out dental amalgam.
Global Issues
Global issues are complex challenges that require international cooperation, from mitigating climate change to addressing global poverty and geopolitical conflicts. Of the U.N.'s 169 targets for sustainable development, only 35% are on track or making moderate progress toward their 2030 deadline.
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Extreme weather turning war refugees into climate refugees
By mid-2025, a striking 3-in-4 refugees reside in countries facing high-to-extreme exposure to climate-related hazards.
Minamata Convention mandates global phase-out of dental amalgam
The decision on dental amalgam was counterbalanced by the greater challenge of artisanal and small-scale gold mining.
Global warming efforts remain 'off target' as emissions soar to new peak
Nations' climate plans will collectively lower the current trajectory of 2.8° C. of warming to between 2.3° and 2.5°.
U.N. treaty's new Indigenous panel bolsters 'environmental democracy'
A new subsidiary of the Convention on Biological Diversity ended its inaugural session deciding how to be integrated.
$310B a year climate adaptation 'emergency' risks lives, spurs debt
Developing nations get 12 to 14 times less than what's needed to adapt infrastructure and prepare for climate impacts.
Pledges by nations to U.N. fall far short of world's 1.5° C. climate target
A new analysis indicates nations must cut carbon emissions by a massive 43% globally by 2030 compared to 2019 levels.
'Systemic backsliding' seen in fight to eliminate violence against women
An estimated 736 million women — almost 1-in-3 — suffer from gender violence, most often from an intimate partner.
Mercury treaty shifts strategy to aim at dental fillings, illegal cosmetics
In the shadow of a decades-long toxic legacy, nations have been cracking down on mercury pollution with mixed results.
U.N. trade agency adopts sweeping mandate tackling global debt crisis
UNCTAD also launched a new platform to stabilize borrower nations and mobilize capital for a costly green transition.
U.N. weather agency backs AI and climate science for early warnings
WMO's governing body expressed an urgent need to accelerate life-saving warnings and defend climate data integrity.
Global parliamentarians vow to push humanitarian law amid crises
The main outcome was the adoption of a declaration to uphold humanitarian norms and support humanitarian action.
U.N. chief defends climate science, calls for accelerated early warnings
Amid a global assault on facts, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres spoke up for climate science and meteorology.
U.N. launches 'Sevilla Forum' to tackle $102 trillion global debt
António Guterres highlights 'impossible choice' for debtor nations; new platform for technical reform, not negotiation.
U.N. trade conference confronts global FDI slump, budget crisis
Operationally, UNCTAD, like other organizations, must navigate economic headwinds and severe budget limitations.
U.S. sinks IMO-led plan for world's first global carbon fee on shipping
A vote on a global plan to cut maritime emissions was postponed for a year, in a win for the Trump administration.