A papal messenger of climate action and 'hope, humility and humanity'
U.N. leaders hailed Pope Francis as a champion of the environment and tireless advocate of refugees and migrants.
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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U.N. panel's major powers urged to seek accountability for aid attacks
Officials updated the 2024 death toll for humanitarian workers to 377 people across 20 countries, the worst year on record.
Climate action to save glaciers 'a matter of survival' for people too
More than 275,000 glaciers cover 700,000 square kilometers of the planet. Glaciers and ice sheets store 70% of all freshwater.
'Spiraling weather and climate impacts’ from record carbon levels
The U.N. weather agency says some human-induced effects will be 'irreversible over hundreds if not thousands of years.'
U.N.-brokered biodiversity financing deal keeps green diplomacy alive
Three days of talks in Rome ended with nations agreeing to support a $200 billion a year global plan to protect nature.
UNHCR freezes $300 million of suspended U.S. aid, impacts 600 staff
Scoop: The budget freeze is part of almost $700 million the U.N. refugee agency already received from the United States.
U.N. refugee agency freezes hiring, cuts spending amid U.S. aid pause
Scoop: UNHCR's directors scrambled to tighten its budget because of the Trump administration's 90-day aid stoppage.
Symbolic 'Doomsday Clock' moves closest ever to human extinction
Atomic scientists reset the Clock to the closest point to the symbolic hour of apocalpyse it has ever been since 1947.
U.N. chief warns Davos crowd of a 'rudderless' and overheating world
His remarks were aimed at focusing attention on rising global temperatures and unregulated artificial intelligence.
WEF says Trump to join Davos virtually after retaking White House
Børge Brende, WEF's president, said there is "a greater level of global uncertainty than we have seen in a generation."
2024 is warmest year on record, surpassing 1.5° Paris treaty target
The U.N. weather agency says the Paris Agreement's long-term temperature goal is "not yet dead but in grave danger."
New system for sharing Earth monitoring data is operational
A new World Meteorological Organization system for data sharing aims to spread technology among developing nations.
Cybercrime treaty wins U.N. approval despite industry concerns
The U.N. adopted by consensus the first international criminal justice treaty to have been negotiated in over 20 years.
Three-quarters of Earth’s land is significantly drier since the 1990s
People living in drylands doubled to 2.3 billion, more than a quarter of the world population, in the past three decades.
Former ICC prosecutor recalls getting 'direct threats' in some cases
Fatou Bensouda says was undeterred by 'unacceptable thug-style tactics' opposing International Criminal Court probes.
Nations head into final round of global talks to curb plastic pollution
Negotiators are meeting in Busan, South Korea to conclude the world's first legally binding plastic waste treaty.