December 21, 2024
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J. Tuyet Nguyen, a journalist with years of experience, has covered major stories in New York City and the United Nations for United Press International, the German Press Agency dpa and various newspapers. His reports focused mostly on topics with international interests for readers worldwide. He was president of the United Nations Correspondents Association (2007 and 2008), which is composed of more than 250 journalists representing world media with influence over policy decision makers. He has chaired the organization of the annual UNCA Awards, which seeks to reward journalists around the world who have done the best broadcasts and written reports on the UN and its specialized agencies. He has traveled the world to cover events and write stories, from politics to the environment as well cultures of different regions. But his most important reporting work has been with the United Nations since the early 1980s. He was bureau chief of United Press International office at the UN headquarters before joining dpa in 1997. Prior to working at the UN, he was an editor on the International Desk of UPI World Headquarters in New York. He worked in Los Angeles and covered the final months of war in Vietnam for UPI.

Planet in Peril: IPBES Report Reveals Options to Achieve Urgently Needed Transformative Change to Halt Biodiversity Collapse

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Focuses on underlying causes of the biodiversity crisis and options for a just and sustainable world. Acting immediately could generate $10 trillion in business opportunity value and support 395 million jobs by 2030.

Windhoek, Namibia, December 18, 2024 – Deep, fundamental shifts in how people view and interact with the natural world are urgently needed to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and safeguard life on Earth, warns a landmark new report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Contacts: ipbes.media@gmail.com;   TerryCollins1@gmail.com or +1 852 579 0534 – Terry Collins & Assoc. | www.tca.tc | @TerryCollinsTC |

The IPBES Assessment Report on the Underlying Causes of Biodiversity Loss and the Determinants of Transformative Change and Options for Achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity – also known as the Transformative Change Report – builds on the 2019 IPBES Global Assessment Report, which found that the only way to achieve global development goals is through transformative change, and on the 2022 IPBES Values Assessment Report.

Prepared over three years by more than 100 leading experts from 42 countries from all regions of the world, the report explains what transformative change is, how it occurs, and how to accelerate it for a just and sustainable world.

“Transformative change for a just and sustainable world is urgent because there is a closing window of opportunity to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and to prevent triggering the potentially irreversible decline and the projected collapse of key ecosystem functions,” said Prof. Karen O’Brien (Norway/USA), co-chair of the assessment with Prof. Arun Agrawal (India & USA) and Prof. Lucas Garibaldi (Argentina). “Under current trends, there is a serious risk of crossing several irreversible biophysical tipping points including die-off of low altitude coral reefs, die back of the Amazon rainforest, and loss of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets. Transformative change is also necessary because most previous and current approaches to conservation, which aim to reform rather than transform systems, have failed to halt or reverse the decline of nature around the world, which has serious repercussions for the global economy and human well-being.”

The cost of delaying actions to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and nature’s decline around the world by even a decade is estimated to be double that of acting now. Acting immediately can also unlock massive business and innovation opportunities through sustainable economic approaches, such as nature-positive economy, ecological economy and Mother-Earth centric economy. Recent estimates are that more than $10 trillion in business opportunity value could be generated and 395 million jobs could be supported globally by 2030.

Approved on Monday in Windhoek, Namibia by the IPBES Plenary, composed of the 147 Governments that are members of IPBES, the report defines transformative change as fundamental system-wide shifts in views – ways of thinking, knowing and seeing; structures – ways of organizing, regulating and governing; and practices – ways of doing, behaving and relating. Current dominant configurations of views, structures and practices perpetuate and reinforce the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and nature’s decline. Transforming them is central to delivering on the global commitments for a just and sustainable world.

“Promoting and accelerating transformative change is essential to meeting the 23 action-oriented targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework by 2030 and four goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework by 2030 and for achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity, which describes a world where all life can thrive,” said Prof. Agrawal. “Transformative change is rarely the outcome of a single event, driver, or actor. It is better understood as changes that each of us can create, and multiple cascading shifts that trigger and reinforce one another, often in unexpected ways.”

The underlying causes of biodiversity loss identified by the report are the disconnection of people from nature and domination over nature and other people; the inequitable concentration of power and wealth; and the prioritization of short-term individual and material gains.

“As complex and challenging as it is to address these underlying causes of biodiversity loss, it is possible,” said Prof. Garibaldi. “History has shown us that societies can transform at immense scale – as they did during the Industrial Revolution. While that era wrought terrible environmental and human costs, it stands as proof that fundamental, system-wide change is achievable, although it occurred over a much longer period of time than is needed for current transformative change for a just and sustainable world. To meet our shared global development goals today means we need to embark on a new transformation – one that urgently conserves and restores our planet’s biodiversity rather than depleting it, while enabling everyone to prosper.”

The authors created and analyzed a database of hundreds of separate case studies of initiatives around the world with transformative potential. Their analysis shows that positive outcomes for diverse economic and environmental indicators can happen in a decade or less. The analysis also demonstrates that initiatives addressing greater numbers of indirect drivers of biodiversity loss and nature’s decline, and those in which diverse actors work together, lead to more positive outcomes for societies, economies and nature.

Principles and Obstacles – The report identifies four principles to guide deliberate transformative change: equity and justice; pluralism and inclusion; respectful and reciprocal human-nature relationships; and adaptive learning and action.

Speaking about the obstacles that prevent transformative change and reinforce the status quo, Prof. O’Brien said: “The impacts of actions and resources devoted to blocking transformative change, for example through lobbying by vested interest groups or corruption, currently overshadow those devoted to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity”.

The report also identifies five overarching challenges to transformative change: relations of domination over nature and people, especially those that emerged and were propagated in colonial eras and that persist over time; economic and political inequalities; inadequate policies and unfit institutions; unsustainable consumption and production patterns including individual habits and practices; as well as limited access to clean technologies and uncoordinated knowledge and innovation systems.

“The underlying causes of biodiversity loss and nature’s decline also create inequalities and injustices,” said Prof. Agrawal. “Those who have benefited most from the economic activities associated with damage to nature – in particular, wealthy actors – have more opportunities and resources to create change. Doing so while involving others in balanced decision-making processes can unleash agency as well as resources to create change.”

Five Strategies – Embracing insights and evidence from diverse knowledge systems, disciplines and approaches, the Transformative Change Report highlights five key strategies and associated actions that have complementary and synergistic effects, and which countries and people can pursue to advance deliberate transformative change for global sustainability:

* Conserve, restore and regenerate places of value to people and nature that exemplify biocultural diversity: This includes a focus on places of biocultural diversity – where place-based actions, such as restoration activities, can also support cultural values, sustainable production and biodiversity. An example is the Community Forestry Programme in Nepal – integrating decentralized forest policy into local community needs, views and practices to restore and manage degraded forests.

* Drive systematic change and mainstreaming biodiversity in the sectors most responsible for nature’s decline: The agriculture and livestock, fisheries, forestry, infrastructure and urban development, mining and fossil fuel sectors contribute heavily to the worst outcomes for nature. Transformative approaches such as multifunctional and regenerative land use can promote a variety of benefits for nature and people. “Studies have suggested that increasing biodiversity, protecting natural habitats and reducing external inputs in agricultural landscapes can enhance crop productivity, for instance by enhancing pollinator abundance and diversity,” said Prof. Garibaldi.

* Transform economic systems for nature and equity: Humans derive more than $100 trillion of value from nature annually, yet global public explicit subsidies to sectors driving nature’s decline ranged from $1.4 trillion to $3.3 trillion per year in 2022 and total public funding for environmentally harmful subsidies has increased by 55% since 2021. It is estimated that between $722 billion and $967 billion per year is needed to sustainably manage biodiversity and maintain ecosystem integrity Currently, $135 billion per year is spent on biodiversity conservation, leaving a biodiversity funding gap of $598-824 billion per year. Some of the actions that could be taken to advance the necessary transformations include: internalizing environmental costs and using true cost accounting, reforming subsidies in sectors that contribute to biodiversity loss and nature’s decline, reconsidering global debts, greater positive private sector engagement, establishing sustainability as a core tax principle, and redefining goals, metrics and indicators to acknowledge social (including cultural), economic and environmental dimensions, as well as the different values of nature.

* Transform governance systems to be inclusive, accountable and adaptive: Integrating biodiversity into sector policies and decision-making, engaging a greater diversity of actors and holding actors accountable are important elements in transforming governance systems for more just and sustainable outcomes for people and nature. An example of this kind of approach to governance is the ecosystems-based spatial management of the Galapagos Marine Reserve, which supports sustainable fisheries and tourism – vital for more than 30,000 residents and 300,000 annual visitors.

* Shift views and values to recognize human-nature interconnectedness: Many human behaviours are habitual, learned within social and environmental conditions – and they can be changed. Enhancing the visibility of desired behaviours and supporting these with targeted policy measures can catalyze and sustain new social norms and behaviours. Cultivating feelings of nature-connectedness is also important, as is transformative learning and education, experiential nature-based activities and knowledge co-creation by combining different knowledge systems including Indigenous and local knowledge. 

Visions of Transformative Change – Visions are fundamentally important to inspire transformative change. The authors assessed more than 850 separate visions of a sustainable world for nature and people. They find that visions of a better future for humans and nature are abundant, but most do not change the status quo.

approach provides a complete understanding of transformative change or how to achieve it,” said Prof. O’Brien. “Many knowledge systems, including Indigenous and local knowledge, provide complementary insights into how it occurs and how to promote, accelerate and navigate the change needed for a just and sustainable world.”

Indigenous and local knowledge systems offer philosophies, ethics of care and reciprocity, values, and practices to shape approaches to transformative change. These include the use of ancestral, embodied and experiential knowledge and non-human ways of knowing and making sense of the world in decision making for conservation. Visions where Indigenous Peoples and local communities play a meaningful role are found to have a greater likelihood of advancing transformative change.

Visions for living in harmony with nature are more likely to succeed when they emerge from inclusive, rights-based approaches and stakeholder processes and when they incorporate collaboration for change across sectors.

Roles for All  – A key message from the report is that there is a role for every person and organization to create transformative change at multiple levels, but that coalitions of actors and actor groups are more effective in pursuing transformative change than change pursued individually. Such coalitions include individual citizens, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, trade unions, funders, faith-based organizations, governments at all levels, the private sector, financial institutions and the scientific community.

Governments across all levels are found to be key in engaging diverse coalitions of State and non-State actors. Governments are powerful enablers of transformative change when they foster policy coherence, enact and enforce stronger regulations to benefit nature and nature’s contributions to people in policies and plans across different sectors, deploy innovative economic and fiscal tools, phase out or reform environmentally harmful subsidies and promote international cooperation. The report finds that current government actions for transformative change are undermined by a mismatch between the scale of biodiversity challenges and the jurisdiction of separate, siloed institutions or the length of time for policy implementation compared to the length of time between elections that can bring new political authorities to power that oppose such policies.

Civil society plays important and effective roles in bringing about transformative change by mobilizing citizens, creating initiatives that propagate change and by holding governments and the private sector accountable for harmful environmental practices. The report finds that a way to support transformative change is by supporting and amplifying civil society initiatives for a just and sustainable world and protecting environmental defenders from violence and violations of rights.

“We thank the co-chairs and all the authors of the Transformative Change Report for making it clear that there is path to a more just and sustainable world,” said Dr. Anne Larigauderie, Executive Secretary of IPBES. “Acting decisively now to shift views, structures and practices to address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss will be tremendously challenging but is urgent, necessary and possible.”

* * * * *

By the Numbers – Key Statistics from the Report

>50%: Proportion of annual global GDP generated by economic activities moderately to highly dependent on nature, amounting to $58 trillion

$13 trillion: Annual value of industries highly dependent on nature, accounting for 15% of global GDP

$31 trillion: Annual value of industries moderately dependent on nature, representing 37% of global GDP

$10 trillion: Estimated business opportunity value that could be generated while supporting 395 million jobs globally by 2030

55%: Increase in public funding of environmentally harmful subsidies since 2021

$10.7 trillion: Estimated annual external costs of sectors most responsible for nature’s decline

<15%: Global proportion of forests certified as sustainably managed

46,955: Documented environmental threats contested by civil society analyzed by authors

40%: Proportion of protected areas and intact ecosystems across 87 countries managed by or with tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities

39.2%: Proportion of global wealth held by top 1% of global population in 2021, with 1.85% owned by the bottom 50%

Contacts: ipbes.media@gmail.com

 TerryCollins1@gmail.com or +1 852 579 0534 – Terry Collins & Assoc. | www.tca.tc | @TerryCollinsTC |

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End of dictatorship in Syria can bring stable and peaceful future to the country: UN

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Geneva/New York, December 9, 2024 – The collapse of the decades-old dictatorship under the Assad regime in Syria can restore peace and human rights to the country’s more than 24 million people, including 16 million who are in need of humanitarian aid, UN leaders said.

“After 14 years of brutal war and the fall of the dictatorial regime, today the people of Syria can seize an historic opportunity to build a stable and peaceful future,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres as Syrian rebels took over the capital Damascus. “Syrians now have an historic opportunity to build a stable and peaceful future but there is much work to be done to ensure an orderly transition.” 

Guterres called for respect of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises and personnel in all cases in accordance with international law.

“We will need the support of the international community to ensure that any political transition is inclusive and comprehensive and that it meets the legitimate aspirations of the people of Syria, in all their diversity. Syria’s sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity must be restored.

The UN will honor the memory of those who have borne the brunt of this conflict. We remain committed to helping Syrians build a country where reconciliation, justice, freedom, and prosperity are shared realities for all. This is the path to sustainable peace in Syria.”

In Geneva, UN News reported that Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in comments to journalists that the Syrian people, after “decades of brutal repression” by the Assad government, remain hopeful but anxious for the future and there is an opportunity now “to build a future grounded in human rights, freedom and justice”.

“The only way forward is a nationally owned political process that brings an end to the litany of suffering, fulfils the aspirations of all Syrians, and ensures truth, justice, reparation, healing and reconciliation,” he said.

The human rights chief called for justice for families of Syria’s missing persons, estimated at more than 130,000.  The UN said the task of documenting Syria’s disappeared is carried out by three bodies at the UN:

The Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic  – established by the UN General Assembly in June 2023; The International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria, which was established by the UN General Assembly in December 2016 and The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, which reports to the Human Rights Council  in Geneva.

Highlights from the UN Spokesperson’s news briefing on Syria:

  • Over 16 million people in Syria need humanitarian aid, with recent displacement of one million people, mostly women and children, from Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Idleb.
  • Transportation disruptions and reports of looting of civilian properties and humanitarian supplies are hampering aid delivery.
  • Health facilities are overwhelmed, with critical shortages of staff, medicine and supplies; health partners are deploying trauma care and mobile clinics.
  • Despite challenges, UN agencies and humanitarian partners in northwest Syria have resumed operations, supported by cross-border deliveries from Türkiye.
  • The $4 billion Humanitarian Response Plan is only 30 per cent funded, with growing needs as winter approaches. (UN News)

The Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA) saidmore than 16 million people already required relief assistance before rebel forces Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and others overthrew the Assad regime. OCHA said about one million people have up uprooted Aleppo, Hama, Homs, and Idlib governorates since November 28, the date the rebels launched their military operations. OCHA reported also that “significant and growing” returns to Syrian towns and cities, where reception centres are over crowded and resources are limited. “There is an urgent need for more shelter, food, non-food items, and sanitation facilities,” it said.


 UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said Syria is at a crossroads between peace and war, stability and lawlessness, reconstruction or further ruin.
 
“There is a remarkable opportunity for Syria to move toward peace and for its people to begin returning home,” he said. “But with the situation still uncertain, millions of refugees are carefully assessing how safe it is to do so. Some are eager, while others are hesitant.”
 
Grandi called for focusing on the issue of returns. “Whether the parties in Syria prioritize law and order will play a major factor in those decisions. A transition that respects the rights, lives, and aspirations of all Syrians – regardless of ethnicity, religion, or political beliefs – is crucial for people to feel safe. As the situation evolves, we will monitor developments, engage with refugee communities, and support States in any organized voluntary returns.
 
He said the needs within Syria remain immense. “With shattered infrastructure and over 90 per cent of the population relying on humanitarian aid, urgent assistance is required as winter approaches – including shelter, food, water, and warmth. UNHCR is committed to delivering this aid and calls on all parties to facilitate its delivery.” (By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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Some 305 million people need life-saving assistance in 2025, but only 190 million will receive the aid: UN

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Geneva/New York, December 4, 2024 – A record 305 million people living in scores of countries worldwide will need life-saving assistance in 2025, but only 190 million will receive the aid because of the lack of funding, the principal United Nations humanitarian organization said as it launched an appeal for $47.4 billion in humanitarian aid for next year.

Tom Fletcher, the newly appointed Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA) said in his office in Geneva that the appeal will provide humanitarian assistance to 190 million people in 32 countries and nine refugee-hosting regions.

Fletcher said the staggering 305 million people needing humanitarian aid are victims of “multiple unending conflicts,” from climate change and conflicts to the glaring disregard for long-established international humanitarian law.

The 305 million people in need live in countries in Southern and Eastern Africa, Middle East and North Africa West and Central Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean countries.

“The world is on fire,” said Fletcher, as reported by OCHA. “We are dealing with a polycrisis right now globally and it is the most vulnerable people in the world who are paying the price. We are dealing with the impact of conflicts – multiple conflicts – and crises of longer duration and of more intense ferocity.”

He said the lack of funding is just one of the reasons why, in countries where populations have endured decades of violence and instability, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

“In DRC, as with all these conflicts, we are ready to do more, it’s our mission to do more,” Fletcher said. “My people are desperate to get out there and deliver because they really are on the frontline. They can see what is needed but we need these resources. That’s our call to action and we also need the world to do more; those with power to do more, to challenge this era of impunity and to challenge this era of indifference.”

Fletcher, a former UK diplomat, warned that the appeal for $47.4 billion will face difficulty because of the change in geopolitical landscape due to numerous national and presidential elections during 2024, which resulted in new government leaders who may not support UN programs.

“it’s not just about America,” he said. “We’re facing the election of a number of governments who will be more questioning of what the United Nations does…But I don’t believe that we can’t make that case to them; I don’t believe that that there isn’t compassion in these governments which are getting elected.”

OCHA said Fletcher spoke to journalists in Geneva after his office released the Global Humanitarian Overview 2025 pointing out that communities continue to be confronted with multiple crises.

“It’s not just the fact of so many conflicts at the same time, it’s the duration of those conflicts; the average length is 10 years,” he said. “We’re not closing off conflicts before the next ones are starting. And the fact that those conflicts are so ferocious and the impact on civilians is so dramatic. I mentioned Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine as examples of that, with this disregard of international law and in every case, obstruction of our work.”

Alarming gap in humanitarian assistance – millions will receive no support, says the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) press release – Statement by Camilla Waszink, Director of Partnership and Policy at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), commenting on the Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) for 2025:

“The Global Humanitarian Overview reflects an alarming gap between the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance globally, and the number we are able to support. It is devastating to know that millions of people in need will not receive necessary assistance next year because of the growing lack of funding for the humanitarian response. With a record number of conflicts ongoing, donors are cutting aid budgets that displaced and conflict-affected people rely on to survive.”

“At a time when the richest people on earth can go to space as a tourist and trillions of US dollars are used annually on global military expenditure, it is incomprehensible that we as an international community are unable to find the necessary funding to provide displaced families with shelter and prevent children from dying of hunger.

“There is an urgent need for a revamp of global solidarity. Existing donor countries must ensure assistance keeps pace with needs and inflation, and emerging economies should compete to become among the most generous donors in the same way they compete to host expensive international sports events.

“Donors must also ensure necessary support for the most neglected and underfunded crises, so that money is not taken from the assistance to people in places like Sudan or Mali, to meet needs in Ukraine or Gaza.

“Conflicts and a blatant disregard for protection of civilians are driving massive humanitarian needs. It is essential that donors provide funding, but they must also invest in ending conflicts, bringing violations to a halt and preventing new needs from developing.”

NRC said about the appeal for 2025: “Realistically, given announced and expected funding cuts from major donors and the fact that the 2024 appeal is still less than 44 per cent funded, we expect the number of people reached to be even lower.”

“The military spending globally reached 2.44 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023 (Statista).

Since last year, there has been a change in how numbers of people in need of humanitarian assistance are calculated. The UN has adopted a narrower definition of “humanitarian needs” than in previous years to offer what it believes is a more realistic assessment of priorities. It is thus important to be aware that the relatively stable figure of people in need of humanitarian assistance compared to last year (305 million now vs 300 million last year) does not mean that humanitarian needs are unchanged or have improved – on the contrary, many places the situation has worsened significantly.”

 (By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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WFP requires $16.9 billion in 2025 to respond to unrelenting humanitarian needs

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 2025 is projected to be a year of unrelenting humanitarian needs, driven by escalating conflicts and climate and economic shocks. Acute hunger is on the rise again, affecting 343 million people in 74 countries where the World Food Programme (WFP) works and data is available. 

Up to 1.9 million people are estimated to be on the brink of famine, primarily in Gaza and Sudan – where famine was confirmed in one location in July – but also pockets of the populations in South Sudan, Haiti and Mali. WFP’s operational requirement for 2025 is US$16.9 billion, which would allow us to reach 123 million of the most vulnerable food-insecure people globally. Following is a press release from WFP.

Rome, 22 November, 2024 – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has launched its 2025 Global Outlook, calling for US$16.9 billion to address global food needs and the alarming gap between needs and resources.

WFP’s flagship 2025 Global Outlook, launched today, shows that 343 million people across 74 countries are acutely food insecure, a 10 per cent increase from last year and just shy of the record hit during the pandemic. The country contexts in which WFP operates are becoming more complex, making reaching people in need more difficult and costly.

A stream of global crises driven by escalating and overlapping conflicts, climate extremes and economic shocks has brought hunger to record levels, generating an unrelenting demand for humanitarian assistance. Yet, funding shortfalls in 2024 forced WFP to scale back activities, often leaving some of the most vulnerable behind.

According to the report, an estimated 1.9 million people are on the brink of famine. The number of people facing catastrophic hunger, specifically in Gaza and Sudan, as well as parts of South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali, has reached alarming levels.

“Global humanitarian needs are rising, fuelled by devastating conflicts, more frequent climate disasters, and extensive economic turmoil. Yet funding is failing to keep pace,” said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. “At WFP, we are dedicated to achieving a world without hunger. But to get there, we urgently need financial and diplomatic support from the international community: to reverse the rising tide of global needs, and help vulnerable communities build long-term resilience against food insecurity.”

The US$16.9 billion WFP needs to assist 123 million of the hungriest people in 2025 is roughly what the world spends on coffee in just two weeks.

In 2025, WFP will continue prioritising, adapting its responses to each country’s specific needs and aligning its capabilities and resources to deliver high-quality programmes.

Regional outlook and priorities

In Asia and the Pacific, where 88 million people struggle under the devastating effects of acute hunger, WFP will require US$2.5 billion to respond to crises and enhance further shock-responsive social protection and anticipatory action initiatives.

With over 170 million acutely insecure people, Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 50 percent of WFP’s projected funding needs in 2025. The conflict in Sudan—where famine was confirmed in one location in August—is driving massive displacement with a spillover into neighbouring countries. Conflict is also pushing millions into hunger in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Sahel, while extreme climate events exacerbated by the El Niño phenomenon are deepening food insecurity across the Southern Africa region.

WFP needs US$8.4 billion to support its operations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The outbreak of hostilities in Lebanon has worsened the already dire situation in the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe region, where conflict is also causing food insecurity in Gaza, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.

The situation in Gaza remains dire: 91 per cent of the population is acutely food-insecure, of whom 16 per cent are in catastrophic conditions. 17.1 million people in Yemen and 12.9 million in Syria are also cutely food-insecure. Across the region, funding shortages are hitting hard on WFP’s operations, and millions feel the sting of reduced food assistance. WFP requires US$ 4.9 billion for its operations.

40.8 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean are experiencing food insecurity, with 14.2 million being prioritized for WFP assistance. WFP will need US$1.1 billion to support vulnerable populations and scale up interventions to strengthen food systems, climate resilience and social protection.

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About WFP – WEP is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change. Follow us on X via @wfp_media

Find the WFP 2025 Global Outlook here

The WFP 2025 Global Outlook provides an update on global food security in countries where WFP operates and data is available, shares WFP’s operational requirements to assist target populations presented by country, region and focus area, and offers a snapshot of how WFP plans to address hunger in 2025.

The WFP Global Outlook also features region-specific outlines of food insecurity levels, needs and planned responses for Asia and the Pacific, East Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East, Northern Africa and Eastern Europe.

Media Contacts:

Martin Penner, WFP/ Rome, Mob. +39 345 6142074

Machrine Birungi, WFP/ Rome, Mob, +39 348 1866475

Martin Rentsch, WFP/Berlin, Mob +49 160 99 26 17 30

Nina Valente, WFP/ London, Mob. +44 (0)796 8008 474

Rene McGuffin, WFP/ Washington DC Mob. +1 771 245 4268

Shaza Moghraby, WFP/New York, Mob. + 1 929 289 9867

Frances Kennedy, WFP/ Rome, Mob. +39 346 7600 806

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UN climate change summit to open next week while 2024 is declared hottest year on record

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Baku, Azerbaijan/New York, November 8, 2024 – The 29th UN Conference on Climate Change will open next week in Azerbaijan amid catastrophic devastations happening around the world, caused by severe floodings and wildfires among others, and an unprecedented global warming this year.

Heads of governments, business and civil society are expected to offer new ideas and initiatives to fight the climate at the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11 to 22.

The UN said the conference will seek an agreement on a new climate finance goal that would ensure that every country has the means to take much stronger climate action, slash greenhouse gas emissions and build resilient communities.

The conference is required to help unlock trillions of dollars needed by developing countries to mitigate harmful carbon emissions, adapt to climate change and cope with the loss and damage it has caused.

UNEP: Focus on finance as world off track on emission cuts – The UN Environment Program (UNEP) urged COP29 to focus on finance as it released its Emissions Gap Report 2024 with a warning that without more ambitious cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, the world is on track for a temperature increase of 2.6°C-3.1°C this century, a rise that would be “debilitating” for the planet.  

The report confirmed that global average temperature has risen to near  1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. It said if such temperature rise would continue the global temperature would reach the catastrophic level of 2.6-3.1°C this century unless emissions are drastically cut.

“Climate change is already devastating communities across the world, particularly the most poor and vulnerable. Raging storms are flattening homes, wildfires are wiping out forests, and land degradation and drought are degrading landscapes,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.

“People, their livelihoods and the nature upon which they depend are in real danger from the consequences of climate change. Without action, this is a preview of what our future holds and why there simply is no excuse for the world not to get serious about adaptation, now.”

The report said countries must slash emissions by 42 per cent by 2030 in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, one of the key goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.   

On the issue of adaptation finance, the report said flows of funds to developing countries increased from US$ 22 billion in 2021 to US$28 billion in 2022, which is still a fraction of the US$187-359 billion needed annually in adaptation finance.  

The report said countries under the Paris Agreement are required in 2025 to deliver updated plans for how they will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. It said COP29 is expected to issue calls for these pledges, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), to be bold. 

The report said COP29 will also discuss the  loss and damage fund, which was launched at last year’s COP28 in Dubai. The fund was designed to assist countries hit by climate change and its consequences such as the loss of human lives, damage to infrastructure and the failure of crops.

WMO: Demands for climate services have increased – Just days before the Baku conference, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued The State of Climate Services report, which said that climate change impacts have intensified and demands for climate services to support mitigation, adaptation and increase resilience have spiked.

“In the past five years, there has been progress in provision of this climate information for decision-making, but big gaps remain and investment lags far behind needs,” the report said.

“In the face of unprecedented environmental challenges, the development, delivery and use of climate information to enable climate action has never been more crucial,” WMO Secretary General Celeste Saulo said.

The report said of the $63 billion allocated to climate adaptation, only about $4 to $5 billion explicitly supports climate services and early warning activities.

“We need to make necessary investments for a sustainable future, The cost of no action is several times higher than the cost of action,” Saulo said.

(By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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Update: UN calls for ending crimes against journalists as many more have died while covering recent crises and conflicts

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Paris/New York, November 2, 2024 – The United Nations marked the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists this year while reports showed that more than half of journalists who lost their lives since last year were killed in dangerous contexts. The UN said the killings of journalists and media workers in Gaza were the highest in any war in decades.

The Paris-based UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said it will hold this year’s global commemoration of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 6-7 November, under the theme of Safety of Journalists in Crises and Emergencies.

The International Day coincided this year with the biannual UNESCO Director-General’s Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, which recorded a 38 per cent increase in the number of journalist killings compared to the previous study.

UNESCO said over 1,700 journalists have been killed around the world between 2006 and 2024, and around 85 percent of the cases did not make it to court.

UN News reported that in his 2024 message for the International Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out that Gaza has seen the highest number of killings of journalists and media workers in any war in decades. He  called on governments to take urgent steps to protect journalists, investigate crimes against them and prosecute perpetrators.

Since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on 7 October, 2023, more than 130 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, said the UN Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

Read Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity

The UNESCO Director-General’s Report is a unique mechanism within the UN system for monitoring the killings of journalists. It was first published in 2008. The report is submitted every two years to the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC).

Following is a press release from UNESCO: Safety of Journalists in Crises and Emergencies.

Ending impunity for crimes against journalists is one of the most important and complex challenges of recent times. It is an essential precondition to guarantee freedom of expression and access to information for all citizens.

With the rise of conflicts and other crises, the 2024 observance seeks to promote a broader discussion on the safety of journalists working in these contexts, including the prevention, protection and prosecution concerns of journalists affected by such challenges.

Many journalists, media professionals, and associated media personnel exercise their duties in highly dangerous contexts. Too many pay an unacceptably high price, including death, enforced disappearance, torture, unlawful detention, and kidnapping, for producing independent, reliable, and verifiable information.

Journalists reporting from crisis- and conflict-zones face severe threats in carrying out their critical work. While from 2017 onwards UNESCO recorded gradual decreases in media workers killed in conflict zones, more recently the trend has been reversed. UNESCO’s monitoring in 2023 recorded more than 50% of journalist killings occurred in crisis- and conflict-zones, with continuously high numbers in the first half of 2024. 

These tragedies are only the tip of the iceberg. Media infrastructure is often damaged or destroyed, and journalists face physical attacks, detention, equipment confiscation or denial of access to reporting sites. Many are forced to flee or cease their work, risking turning conflict areas into “zones of silence”.

Whether reporting on conflict, humanitarian disasters, climate or health crises, journalists continue to face disproportionate threats and higher levels of impunity for extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention, as well as intimidation and harassment, both offline and online.

Read more in the Concept note

2024 Events

This year, the global commemoration of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists will take place on 6-7 November 2024 at at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the theme of Safety of Journalists in Crises and Emergencies.

Celebrations around the world

Impunity for attacks on journalists has a chilling effect on society

Latin America and the Caribbean continues to be the region with the highest number of murders of journalists, according to the 2022 UNESCO Director-General’s Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity.

Since 1993, more than 1,700 journalists have been killed for reporting the news and bringing information to the public. In nine out of ten cases the killers go unpunished, according to the UNESCO observatory of killed journalists. Impunity leads to more killings and is often a symptom of worsening conflict and the breakdown of law and judicial systems.

While killings are the most extreme form of media censorship, journalists are also subjected to countless threats – ranging from kidnapping, torture and other physical attacks to harassment, particularly in the digital sphere. Threats of violence and attacks against journalists, in particular, create a climate of fear for media professionals, impeding the free circulation of information, opinions and ideas for all citizens. Women journalists are particularly impacted by threats and attacks, notably by those made online.

 According to UNESCO’s discussion paper, The Chilling: Global trends in online violence against women journalists, 73 percent of the women journalists surveyed said they had been threatened, intimidated and insulted online in connection with their work.

In many cases, threats of violence and attacks against journalists are not properly investigated. This impunity emboldens the perpetrators of the crimes and at the same time has a chilling effect on society, including journalists themselves. UNESCO is concerned that impunity damages whole societies by covering up serious human rights abuses, corruption, and crime. Read and share the stories of killed journalists #TruthNeverDies.

On the other hand, justice systems that vigorously investigate all threats of violence against journalists send a powerful message that society will not tolerate attacks against journalists and against the right to freedom of expression for all.

UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists

The UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity is the first concerted effort within the UN to address attacks and impunity of crimes against journalists, with a multi-stakeholder and holistic approach. It brings together UN bodies, national authorities, media, and civil society organizations.

Since the plan was adopted, the issue of safety of journalists has gained a higher visibility in the UN, as evidenced by the increasing number of declarations, resolutions and other normative texts, and the UN Secretary General’s Call to Action for Human Rights. Protecting journalists is also part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Plan has also contributed to building international coalitions of governments and civil society and served to bring about changes on the ground, such as the creation of national safety mechanisms in at least 50 countries.

But despite these achievements, challenges still exist. The high rate of impunity for crimes against journalists persists and new forms of threats develop in unprecedented ways.

The 10-year anniversary was a milestone to Reaffirm, Recommit and Reposition efforts to advance the UN Plan.

Background

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2 November as the ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists’ in General Assembly Resolution A/RES/68/163. The Resolution urged Member States to implement definite measures countering the present culture of impunity. The date was chosen in commemoration of the assassination of two French journalists in Mali on 2 November 2013.

This landmark resolution condemns all attacks and violence against journalists and media workers. It also urges Member States to do their utmost to prevent violence against journalists and media workers, to ensure accountability, bring to justice perpetrators of crimes against journalists and media workers, and ensure that victims have access to appropriate remedies. It further calls upon States to promote a safe and enabling environment for journalists to perform their work independently and without undue interference.

Did you know?

153 journalists have been killed in the line of duty in 2022-2023.*

117 journalists were killed in 2020-2021.

In 2020 and 2021, Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for 38% of killings, followed by Asia and the Pacific with 32% of killings.

Only 14 percent of cases of crimes against journalists are currently considered judicially resolved.

In 2021, the percentage of women among all journalists killed almost doubled, rising to 11% from 6% the previous year.

Source: UNESCO 2022 *2023

Safety of Journalists

Find out what the United Nations is doing for the safety of journalists.

Resources

UNESCO website for the Day

UNESCO observatory of killed journalists

UNESCO Condemns Killing of Journalists

UNESCO: Safety of Journalists

Protect journalists, protect the truth

Journalism, press freedom and COVID-19

Reporting Facts: Free from Fear or Favour

Safety of journalists covering protests : preserving freedom of the press during times of turmoil

Intensified attacks, new defences: developments in the fight to protect journalists and end impunity

#TruthNeverDies campaign 

#KeepTruthAlive campaign

#MyFightAgainstImpunity campaign

World Press Freedom Day (3 May)

World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development

Global toolkit for judicial actors: international legal standards on freedom of expression, access to information and safety of journalists

Guidelines for prosecutors on cases of crimes against journalists

Legal standards on freedom of expression: toolkit for the judiciary in Africa

School for Judges: lessons in freedom of information and expression from (and for) Latin America’s courtrooms

Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression

Reham al-Farra Memorial Journalism Fellowship

The Committee to Protect Journalists

Documents

Report of the UN Secretary-General on the safety of journalists and the issue of impunity (A/74/314)

UNESCO Director-General’s Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity

UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/68/163

UN Security Council Resolution S/RES/2222 (2015)

UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity

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Acute food insecurity is set to increase in magnitude and severity in 22 countries and territories

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New UN report warns of conflict-induced famine and catastrophic hunger in five major hotspots alongside the looming La Nina climate threat in others. Following is a joint FAO-WFP news release.

Rome, October 31, 2024 – Acute food insecurity is set to increase in both magnitude and severity across 22 countries and territories, according to a new United Nations report. The report warns that the spread of conflict, particularly in the Middle East – coupled with climate and economic stressors – is pushing millions of people to the brink. The report spotlights the regional fallout from the crisis in Gaza which has seen Lebanon engulfed in conflict and warns that the La Niña weather pattern could impact climates through March 2025, threatening fragile food systems in already vulnerable regions.

The report draws attention to famine in the Zamzam camp in North Darfur and famine risk in other areas of Sudan, the enduring risk of famine in Palestine (Gaza Strip) and the catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity in Haiti, Mali and South Sudan. It warns that without immediate humanitarian action and concerted efforts to overcome severe access constraints and resolve ongoing conflicts, further starvation and death are likely.

The report – ‘Hunger Hotspots – FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity’ – issued today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) calls for urgent humanitarian action to save lives and livelihoods and prevent starvation and death in hotspots where acute hunger is at high risk of worsening between November 2024 and May 2025.

In total, 22 countries/territories are classified as “hunger hotspots”, where high levels of acute food insecurity are expected to further deteriorate due to the combination of conflict, economic instability, and climate shocks during the outlook period. Without immediate intervention, including increased funding for food and livelihoods assistance, hundreds of thousands more people are expected to face starvation in the coming months.

“The situation in the five hunger hotspots of highest concern is catastrophic. People are experiencing an extreme lack of food and face unprecedented enduring starvation fuelled by escalating conflicts, climate crises and economic shocks. If we are to save lives and prevent acute hunger and malnutrition, we urgently need a humanitarian ceasefire, and to restore access to and availability of highly nutritious food, including reactivating local food production. But this alone is not enough; we need longer-term stability and food security. Peace is a pre-requisite for food security. Without peace and stability, farmers cannot grow food, harvest or sustain their livelihoods. Access to nutritious food is not just a basic need – it is a fundamental human right,” said QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General. 

“Worldwide, conflicts are escalating, economic instability is rising, and climate disasters are becoming the new norm. With more effective political and financial support, humanitarians can and will continue to implement proven and scalable solutions to address hunger and reduce needs over the long term,” said Cindy McCain, WFP Executive Director.

“It’s time for world leaders to step up and work with us to reach the millions of people at risk of starvation – delivering diplomatic solutions to conflicts, using their influence to enable humanitarians to work safely, and mobilizing the resources and partnerships needed to halt global hunger in its tracks,” Director McCain added.

The effects of the La Niña weather pattern, anticipated to impact global climates from November 2024 through March 2025, are expected to further exacerbate some of the food crises. While some areas may benefit from improved agricultural conditions, La Niña is likely to cause devastating floods in countries such as Nigeria and South Sudan, while potentially contributing to dry conditions in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopian. These extreme weather events threaten already fragile food systems, putting millions at risk of hunger.

The report stresses that early, targeted action is essential to prevent the further deterioration of the crisis and avert mass hunger-related mortality. FAO and WFP are urging world leaders to prioritize conflict resolution, economic support, and climate adaptation measures to protect the most vulnerable populations from the brink of famine.

Key Findings

According to the report, Palestine, the Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti and Mali remain at the highest alert level and require the most urgent attention. Conflict is the primary driver of hunger in all these areas. All hotspots of the highest concern have communities already facing or at risk of famine or facing catastrophic conditions of acute food insecurity.

Chad, Lebanon, Myanmar, Mozambique, Nigeria, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen are hotspots of very high concern, with a large number of people facing critical acute food insecurity, coupled with worsening drivers that are expected to further intensify life-threatening conditions in the coming months.

Since the previous edition of the Hunger Hotspots report (June 2024), Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia and Niger have joined the list of hunger hotspots, alongside Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Somalia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, where acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further during the outlook period.

The Hunger Hotspots report identifies areas where acute food insecurity is likely increase during the outlook period. The hotspots are determined through forward-looking analysis and selected through a consensus-based process involving FAO and WFP field and technical teams, alongside analysts specialized in conflict, economic risks and natural hazards. 

The report is part of a US and EU funded suite of analytical products produced under the Global Network Against Food Crises, to enhance and coordinate the generation and sharing of evidence-based information and analysis for preventing and addressing food crises. 

This series also includes the recently published 2024 Global Report on Food Crises, which retroactively looks at the levels of acute food insecurity in 2023, in complement to the Hunger Hotspots which is a forward-looking early warning analysis that provides decision makers with information for planning and resource allocation. 

The digital version of the report is also available at this link

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialized agency that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. It aims at transforming agrifood systems, making them more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no-one behind. FAO’s goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. 

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

For more information please contact:

James Belgrave, WFP/ Rome, James.Belgrave@wfp.org, tel. +39 366 5294297

WFP Media Desk, WFP/ Rome, WFP.Media@wfp.org

Irina Utkina, FAO/ Rome, irina.utkina@fao.org, tel. +39657052542

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8% GDP Loss by 2050 Foreseen Due to World Water Crisis; More Than 50% of Food Production at Risk

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Paris, October 17, 2024 — An international group of leaders and experts warns that unless humanity acts with greater boldness and urgency, an increasingly out-of-balance water cycle will wreak havoc on economies and humanity worldwide.

In a landmark report, The Economics of Water: Valuing the Hydrological Cycle as a Global Common Good, the Global Commission on the Economics of Water says the water crisis puts at risk more than half of the world’s food production by 2050.

It also threatens an 8% loss of GDP in countries around the world on average by 2050, with as much as a 15% loss in lower-income countries, and even larger economic consequences beyond.

Weak economics, destructive land use, and the persistent mismanagement of water resources have combined with the worsening climate crisis to put the global water cycle under unprecedented stress, the Commission says.

Nearly three billion people and over half of the world’s food production are in areas experiencing drying, or unstable trends in total water availability. Further, several cities are sinking due to the loss of water below the ground.

“Today, half of the world’s population faces water scarcity. As this vital resource becomes increasingly scarce, food security and human development are at risk — and we are allowing this to happen,” observed Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and one of the Commission’s four co-chairs.

“For the first time in human history, we are pushing the global water cycle out of balance. Precipitation, the source of all freshwater, can no longer be relied upon due to human caused climate and land use change, undermining the basis for human wellbeing and the global economy.”

A new economics of water – The report argues that existing approaches have led to the water crisis. They ignore the multiple values of water across whole economies and in preserving nature’s critical ecosystems. The widespread under-pricing of water today also encourages its profligate use across the economy and skews the locations of the most water-intensive crops and industries, such as data centres and coal-fired power plants, to areas most at risk of water stress.

Proper pricing, subsidies and other incentives must be used to ensure water is used more efficiently in every sector, more equitably in every population, and more sustainably.

“The global water crisis is a tragedy but is also an opportunity to transform the economics of water – and to start by valuing water properly so as to recognize its scarcity and the many benefits it delivers,” said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization and a co-chair of the Commission.

Current approaches also deal predominantly with the water we can see – the “blue water” in our rivers, lakes, and aquifers. They typically overlook a critical freshwater resource, namely “green water” – the moisture in our soils and plant life, which ultimately returns and circulates through the atmosphere, generating around half the rainfall we receive on land.

A stable supply of green water is hence linked inextricably to stable patterns of rainfall, itself critical to economies and livelihoods. It also provides crucial support for the natural storage of carbon dioxide in the soil and mitigation of climate change.

The water challenge becomes even more pressing when we recognise how much water each person needs daily to live a dignified life. The Global Commission offers a new perspective on a just access to water: While 50 to 100 litres per day is required to meet essential health and hygiene needs, a dignified life – including adequate nutrition and consumption – requires a minimum of about 4,000 litres per person per day.

Most regions cannot secure this much water locally. Although trade could help distribute water resources more equitably, it is hampered by misaligned policies and the water crisis itself.

The Commission argues that the crisis demands bolder, more integrated thinking, and a recasting of policy frameworks – in short, a new economics of water. It begins by recognising that the water cycle must now be governed as a global common good.

This can only be done collectively, through concerted action in every country, through collaboration across boundaries and cultures, and for benefits that will be felt everywhere.

Critically, we must redefine the way we value water properly to reflect its scarcity, while at the same time recognising the multiple benefits of water and a stable global hydrological cycle across economies. We must shape economies to allocate and use water properly from the start, and avoid having to fix problems such as water pollution and other “externalities” after the fact.

The report calls for a fundamental regearing of where water sits in economies, enabled by a “mission-driven” approach. This paradigm shift requires the participation of all stakeholders, from local to global, to achieve the missions that address the most important challenges of the global water crisis.

Such missions would encourage innovations, capacity building and investments, and be evaluated not in terms of short-run costs and benefits but, rather, for how they can catalyse long-run, economy-wide benefits.

“We must move beyond a reactive market-fixing approach toward a proactive market-shaping one that catalyses mission-oriented innovation and builds symbiotic partnerships around our biggest water challenges. Only with a new economic mindset can governments value, govern, and finance water in a way that drives the transformation we need,” said Mariana Mazzucato, Professor at University College London where she is Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP), and one of the co-chairs of the Commission.

The report recommends five such missions:

Mission 1: Launch a new revolution in food systems

Transform agriculture to sustain the planet by scaling up micro-irrigation and radically improving water productivity, reducing reliance on nitrogen-based fertilisers, spreading regenerative agriculture, and shifting progressively away from animal to plant-based diets.

Mission 2: Conserve and restore natural habitats critical to protecting green water

Conserve 30% of forests and restore 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030. Priority should be given to protecting and restoring those areas that can best contribute to a stable water cycle.

Mission 3: Establish a circular water economy

Capture the full value of every drop by treating and reusing wastewater, reducing distribution inefficiencies and recovering valuable resources.

Mission 4: Enable a clean-energy and AI-rich era with much lower water intensity

Renewable energy, semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI) are defining a new economic era. We must spur innovation with high ambitions and secure equity, sustainability and efficiency to ensure their growth does not exacerbate global water stresses or constrain the benefits they provide.

Mission 5: Ensure no child dies from unsafe water by 2030

Currently, over 1,000 children die every day from unsafe water. Ensure access to clean water for rural and hard-to-reach communities, including investing in decentralized water treatment and sanitation systems.

The Commission has identified critical enablers for the five missions, reflecting key aspects of this new way of governing, nationally and internationally to benefit people and the planet:

● Govern partnerships, property rights, and contracts for a just and sustainable water future Forge more symbiotic partnerships and address legacy water rights using conditionalities.

● Shape finance for a safe, just and sustainable water future

Address public and private underfunding; redirect harmful subsidies; establish “Just Water Partnerships” to design, implement and finance transition towards a just and safe water future in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

● Harness data as a foundation for action

Improve global water data infrastructure; promote corporate water footprint disclosure covering green and blue water, and value water as natural capital.

● Build global water governance

Create a multi-sectoral Global Water Pact to address both green and blue water challenges and stabilise the hydrological cycle.

A just and sustainable water future: How to turn the tide – The Report calls for governments across the world to deliver a “new course for water at every scale” and reinvigorate structures of international cooperation to address shared water challenges.

Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of Singapore and one of the co-chairs of the Commission, said: “We can only solve this crisis if we think in much broader terms about how we govern water. By recognising water’s interactions with climate change and biodiversity. By mobilising all our economic tools, and both public and private finance, to innovate and invest in water. By thinking and acting multilaterally. So we not only save countless children’s lives and improve communities’ livelihoods today, but secure a much better and safer future everywhere.”

About the Global Commission on the Economics of Water – The Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW) was convened in May 2022 at the initiative of the Government of the Netherlands as co-host of the UN 2023 Water Conference, with the aim of redefining the way we value and govern water for the common good, and completing the sustainability trilogy that began with the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change and the Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity.

Co-chaired by Mariana Mazzucato, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Johan Rockström, and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, it comprises an independent and diverse group of experts from science, economics and policy-making, with leadership experience at community, city, national and multilateral levels.

The Co-Chairs and Commissioners contributed in their personal capacity, the views and recommendations of the GCEW do not necessarily reflect the opinions of their institutions and are independent of the Government of the Netherlands.

The full report of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water with an Executive Summary, images and other resources, are available in full at https://tinyurl.com/nhda49xx/

An animated explanation of the report’s key messages will be available Wednesday Oct. 9 at www.tempeconomicsofwater.com

Contacts: Will Yeates, +44-7582-711870; Media@watercommission.org;

Denise Young, +33-6-5115-1952, younglld@gmail.com

Terry Collins, +1-416-878-8712; tc@tca.tc

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Violence against children worldwide has reached unprecedented levels: UN

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New York, October 11, 2024 – Up to one billion children are vulnerable to various forms of abuses – from armed conflicts and forced displacement to poverty – while measures to protect them have remained inadequate due to the current global crises, said a UN report on the violence against children.

“Millions and millions of children are left behind,” the report said. “The world is facing an unprecedented child rights crisis. Violence against children in all its forms and in all settings continues to increase worldwide.”

The report said wars, climate change and environmental degradation, food insecurity, poverty and social disparities have reached such levels that “we are witnessing an unprecedented level of displacement of children. Protecting the rights of children on the move in times of crisis is needed more than ever.”

The UN set up 15 years ago the mandate of a special representative of the UN Secretary-General to revamp and revitalize efforts to end violence against all children. The goal of providing education to all children and ending poverty for all is part of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that should reach their targets by 2030. But recent assessments on SDG achievements showed that they are falling far behind their deadline.

Najat Maalla M’Jid, the special representative the UN Secretary-General on violence against children, said in the report that six years remain to honor the promise made to end all forms of violence against children.

“The question to be asked is therefore: is it a vain promise or is it still achievable? “, she said. “We owe it to all children to keep the promise. It is possible if we move from reiterating commitments and pledges to concrete, integrated and sustainable actions for and with children, leaving no one behind.”

The report said an estimated 1 in 6 children globally live in extreme poverty, which is a “powerful driver of violence,” including child labor, child marriage, child trafficking, children living in street situations, child sexual exploitation and the recruitment of children into criminal, armed and violent extremist groups.

It cited an estimate by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) that 1 billion children are at extremely high risk of being affected by the climate crisis and around 1.5 billion children under the age of 15 have no access to social protection, and progress on coverage has stalled worldwide since 2016.

The report said that children are on the move all over the world “on an unprecedented scale,” citing the World Migration Report 2022 published by the International Organization on Migration, which estimated the number of international migrants at 281 million,14.6 percent of whom were children.

It said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that 110 million people had been forcibly displaced around the world, of whom 43.3 million were children, in June 2023. The report said conflicts and violence remain key factors for the displacement more than 25 million children at the end of 2022. UNHCR said also that forced displacement in the first half of 2023 were the results of conflicts in Ukraine, the Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Myanmar. Other displacements resulted from a combination of drought, floods and insecurity in Somalia; and a prolonged humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

While the report of the special representative is being published, UNICEF, whose staff like many other UN personnel, are currently providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, said the year-old war “is taking a catastrophic toll on children.”

UNICEF said more than 14,000 children have reportedly been killed, according to the latest estimate by the Palestinian Ministry of Health while thousands more have been injured. “There are no safe spaces. All of Gaza’s children have been exposed to the traumatic experiences of war, the consequences of which will last a lifetime,” it said.

UNICEF said about 1.9 million people, out of the total population of 2.3 million, are internally displaced with half of them children. Those displaced do not have enough access to water, food, fuel and medicine and their homes were destroyed and families torn apart. “Many children have been displaced multiple times, and have lost homes, parents and loved ones. They need to be protected, along with the remaining services that they rely on, including medical facilities and shelter,” UNICEF said.

“Gaza’s children have endured unimaginable horrors – they deserve an immediate ceasefire and a chance for a peaceful future,” UNICEF said. The UN agency called for an immediate and long-lasting humanitarian ceasefire for the sake of children in Israel as well as the State of Palestine. (By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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One Year of Unimaginable Suffering Since the 7 October Attack

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New York/Geneva, 7 October 2024 – It has been a year of unimaginable suffering, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today as it marked one year since Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched the deadliest attack in Israel’s history – a horrific event that foreshadowed the devastation brought on by the Israeli response.

The toll is staggering: According to Israeli sources, more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed, including children, and nearly 5,500 have been injured.

Scores of hostages remain in Gaza, reportedly subjected to inhuman treatment, including sexual violence, exposed to hostilities and denied access to humanitarian assistance or visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Entire Israeli communities have been displaced, living under the constant threat of indiscriminate rocket fire.

In Gaza, where Palestinians have already been reeling from the impact of a 17-year-old air, sea and land blockade and repeated cycles of hostilities, Israeli military operations have resulted in a catastrophe. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 41,600 Palestinians have reportedly been killed, many of them women and children, and 96,600 injured. Thousands more are missing and believed to be trapped under the rubble.

Nearly the entire population of Gaza has been displaced, many of them multiple times, with no safe place to go.

Thousands of Palestinians are arbitrarily detained, reportedly subjected to torture and other inhuman treatment and with no information on their whereabouts. 

Civilians face extreme deprivation, with limited or no access to health care, food, electricity or humanitarian aid. Children have missed out on an entire year of education. Schools sheltering displaced families have been repeatedly shelled, health-care workers and hospitals have been systematically attacked, and aid convoys have been continually blocked and even shot at.

In the West Bank, the use of lethal force by Israeli forces, along with rampant settler violence and house demolitions, have led to a sharp rise in fatalities, widespread destruction and forced displacement.

“No statistics or words can fully convey the extent of the physical, mental and societal devastation that has taken place,” said Joyce Msuya, the Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. “But we know what must happen: The hostages must be released and treated humanely. Civilians must be protected and their essential needs met. Palestinians arbitrarily detained must be released. Humanitarian workers must be safeguarded and their work facilitated. Perpetrators must be held accountable for any serious violations of international humanitarian law. And the assault on Gaza must stop.”

The past year has seen Israel blocking humanitarian access into and within Gaza, crippling aid operations. As a result, a weakened population is left to battle disease, hunger and death.

More than 300 aid workers, the vast majority from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), have been killed in Gaza – more than in any other single crisis, making Gaza the most dangerous place for aid workers.

Despite the immense risks – including violence, looting of supplies, and access challenges – humanitarian agencies continue to deliver aid when and where they can. More than 560,000 children were vaccinated against polio during the first phase of an emergency vaccination campaign – an example of what can be achieved when aid workers can reach people in need. But such examples are few.

“It has been 12 months of unrelenting tragedy – this must end,” said Ms. Msuya. “Member States must wield their influence to ensure respect for international humanitarian law and human rights and compliance with the rulings of the International Court of Justice. They must also work to end impunity. An immediate ceasefire and durable peace are long overdue.”

For further information, please contact:

In New York, Eri Kaneko, kaneko@un.org, +1 917 208 8910

In Geneva, Jens Laerke, laerke@un.org, +41 79 472 9750

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