The world is experiencing unprecedented warming with 2024 poised to become the hottest year on record, surpassing the previous record in 2023, according to new data released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ahead of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Amid a deepening humanitarian crisis in Ukraine caused by the ongoing Russian invasion, the head of the UN atomic energy agency (IAEA) said that safety at the country’s largest nuclear power plant “remains a deep source of concern”.

Come hell or high water, nations must urgently scale up climate adaptation efforts, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) warned Thursday, starting with a commitment to boost adaptation financing at the upcoming COP29 summit.

COTONOU, Nov 07 (IPS) - At just 11 years old, with a heavy heart, Louis  peered up at his parents and said goodbye. He was leaving his small village in northern Benin to live with his uncle in Parakou, where the schools were better. Ever since, Louis has continued to make sacrifices to pursue a strong education and a better life. 

MANAMA & NAIROBI, Nov 07 (IPS) - The Arab region is among the most water-scarce areas globally, as nearly 392 million people live in countries facing water scarcity or absolute water scarcity. So dire is the situation that, of the 22 Arab countries, 19 fall below the annual threshold for water scarcity in renewable resources, defined as 1,000 cubic meters per person.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Nov 6 2024 (IPS) - More durable than bronze, higher than Pharaoh’s pyramids is the monument I have made, a shape that angry wind or hungry rain cannot demolish, nor the innumerable ranks of the years that march in centuries. I shall not wholly die: some part of me will cheat the goddess of death.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Nov 06 (IPS) - Imagine living with water up to your knees for half of the year, where homes are flooded, and people constantly fear that the sea might one day engulf the town and everyone in it.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Nov 06 (IPS) - Despite earlier income convergence among nations, many low-income countries (LICs) and people are falling further behind. Worse, the number of poor and hungry has been increasing again after declining for decades.

CHIMANIMANI, Zimbabwe, Nov 6 2024 (IPS) - Linet Makwera (28) has a baby strapped on her back as she totters barefoot, picking tiny pieces of wood on both sides of a dusty and narrow road, peering fearfully at people passing by along the road in Chimanimani’s Mutambara area in Gonzoma village located in Zimbabwe’s Manicaland Province, east of the country.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has called for “urgent international support” as the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide reaches 123 million, with ongoing conflicts in Lebanon, Sudan and other areas driving further displacement.