The state of the planet is a key agenda item for the United Nations General Assembly. This page features related updates from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and its partners, including key moments of the year such as July’s High-level Political Forum and September’s High-Level Week which in 2024 included the Summit of the Future.
21 Sep
2023
21:23
“We have the solutions”: Actor Matt Damon calls for action on water scarcity
Actor and philanthropist Matt Damon called on Thursday for governments and financial institutions to scale up their efforts to counter water scarcity, saying that was crucial for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs).
“[Water scarcity] is solvable. We have the solutions,” said Damon during a session of the UN General Assembly. “[Water] undergirds all of these other SDGs. It’s getting politicians to understand that.”
Damon is the co-founder of Water.org, a non-profit group working to supply clean water and sanitation services to communities around the world. By 2050, an estimated 6 billion people will face water scarcity due to the climate crisis, pollution, and increasingly unsustainable production and consumption.
21 Sep
2023
19:42
Multilateral development banks support UN’s early warning initiative
Ten multilateral development banks voiced their support on Wednesday for a UN effort to cover everyone on Earth by early warning systems for disasters.
Backers say that network is crucial to reducing the death and damage from climate change, especially in a group of highly vulnerable small-island states.
“We recognize that with climate change rapidly leading to more frequent extreme weather events, this initiative will protect lives, livelihoods, and the environment, helping countries and people adapt,” the banks said.
The UN’s early-warning initiative requires US$3.1 billion in funding over the next four years and observers say multilateral development banks have a crucial role to play in raising that capital.
21 Sep
2023
18:30
New partnership seeks to accelerate biodiversity action plans
In a major stride towards safeguarding the planet’s dwindling biodiversity, UNEP and partners on Wednesday launched a new initiative to bolster the implementation of the landmark Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
The National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans Accelerator Partnership seeks to empower countries to combat biodiversity loss, recognizing that technical support and global outreach are pivotal.
“This is not a project, this is a partnership – all hands on deck. We have one planet, and we don’t have enough time to save it,” said Doreen Robinson, UNEP’s head of biodiversity. “We have to work more collaboratively, more efficiently together.”
21 Sep
2023
17:30
Happening today: Accelerating climate action in fragile and vulnerable contexts
This high-level event will focus on ways to scale up climate action in highly vulnerable and conflict-affected areas. It will preview a suite of “solutions” expected to be announced at the UN Climate Change Conference later this year. Co-hosted by the UN Climate Security Mechanism, the event runs from 1:15–2:45 p.m. EDT.
21 Sep
2023
16:10
Communication key to fixing fashion sector, experts say
Fashion’s marketing machine has a pivotal role to play in making the clothing industry more sustainable, UNEP programme officer Isabella Marras stressed yesterday during a session at the UN General Assembly.
Marras said marketers, influencers and the traditional media must work to discourage the conspicuous consumption that defines much of the fashion industry. The sector is a major source of planet-warming greenhouse gasses and a prolific user of chemicals.
“[Fashion communicators influence] people to quite an important extent in what their aspirations are in terms of living sustainably or not living sustainably,” Marras said.
21 Sep
2023
06:12
Coming up today: Thursday highlights
Today is another busy day in New York at the UN General Assembly.
The SDG Action Zone will feature a parade of leaders, thinkers, innovators and creators working to further the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Actor and Water.org founder Matt Damon will discuss what needs to happen for the world to achieve SDG 6, which calls for everyone on Earth to have access to clean water and sanitation. The session runs from 12:05 to 12:30 p.m.
Biodiversity experts Doreen Robinson from UNEP and Midori Paxton from UNDP will chat about how the world can safeguard nature while forging a better future for the least fortunate in a session from 2 to 2:40 p.m.
20 Sep
2023
23:00
Happening now: Breaking free of fossil fuels
In a series of fireside chats, a dozen experts will discuss how countries can slash greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming to 1.5°C, the most ambitious target of the Paris Agreement. UNEP Deputy Executive Director Elizabeth Maruma Mrema is scheduled to participate, as are UNEP ambassadors Lewis Pugh, an endurance swimmer, and Dia Mirza, an actor.
20 Sep
2023
20:00
Leaders discuss how to increase funding for development
The High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development takes place today, part of an effort to jumpstart progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The session will focus on the implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, which was adopted in 2015 to provide a new global framework for funding sustainable development. Right now, only 15 per cent of the SDGs targets are on track, and experts say a lack of financing is a major reason why.
20 Sep
2023
19:41
UN Secretary-General: “Humanity has opened the gates to hell”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres opened today’s Climate Ambition Summit with an impassioned call for the world to act on the climate crisis, saying a surge in wildfires, extreme heat and other disasters is threatening humanity’s future.
“Our focus here is on climate solutions – and our task is urgent. Humanity has opened the gates to hell,” Guterres said.
Earth is on pace to warm a potentially catastrophic 2.8°C before century’s end. Guterres pushed world leaders to use the summit to speed up efforts to slow the crisis.
“Today can be a powerful moment to generate momentum that we build on over the coming months. We can – and we must – turn up the tempo.”
20 Sep
2023
18:45
Happening today: High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response
During this session, Member States are expected to discuss a declaration that would strengthen how the world prepares for and responds to pandemics. Among other things, the measure calls for greater access to vaccines and treatment for the least fortunate.
The session comes amid mounting concerns that nature loss and the illegal wildlife trade are increasing the risk of disease transmission between animals and humans, a process that can spark pandemics.
This meeting is the first of three high-level events on health during the UN General Assembly.
