A day before a wall of ice, rock and muddy water tore through Himalayan valleys along the Nepal-China border, Dipesh Chapagain was discussing with a colleague just how devastating such a disaster could be.
The impact of the deadly flood in Nepal has been described as “immense” as the authorities there confirm that 538 bodies have been recovered from the disaster-stricken area.
Amid reports that hundreds of people are still missing in Nepal and China after a floodwater surge slammed into towns and villages on Wednesday, aid teams have been working to reach communities cut off by the disaster.
Promising efforts to restore degraded land are now in the spotlight at a time when 40 per cent of the world’s land currently faces degradation and drought, threatening the livelihoods of over three billion people, the head of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) said Wednesday, announcing three winners of its World Restoration Flagships awards.
Countries are spending too little to restore degraded land even as the economic cost of doing nothing climbs towards $1 trillion a year, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed warned at a major UN land conference in Mongolia.
As extreme heat becomes an increasingly visible reality across Japan, meteorologists, scientists, businesses and professional footballers are joining forces to encourage stronger climate action and raise awareness of the risks posed by global warming.
From Ecuador to Bangladesh, a new generation of entrepreneurs is turning land restoration into economic opportunity. Whether repurposing agricultural waste, building greenhouses or deploying AI-powered sensors, they are showing, with support from a United Nations-backed initiative, that restoring land can also generate income and improve livelihoods.
As heatwaves are turning deadlier, fires and disasters are razing cities — and rising seas are erasing territories — one environmental crisis remains dangerously overlooked: the degradation of the land beneath our feet.
In one of the cities hardest hit by the earthquake that struck Colombia, hundreds of people are still waiting for news of missing relatives, friends and neighbours.
As amber heat-health alerts spread across England this summer, a new study has found that the warnings are being received – but not changing behaviour.
As multiple regions contend with unbearable heat, drought, wildfires and other extreme weather, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Tuesday underlined the crucial need for stronger forecasts and early warning systems to protect lives and livelihoods.
As earthquake rescue efforts across western Colombia continued on Tuesday, UN agencies said that they stood ready to help “with everything we've got”, in coordination with national authorities.
The UN offered its support to Colombia on Monday after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck the west of the country, killing at least 111 people and injuring at least 87, including several children, while leaving others trapped under the rubble and causing landslides and serious damage to homes and infrastructure.
More than 2,500 years after Homer’s epic was first told, Christopher Nolan's blockbuster retelling of The Odyssey has brought the journey back to big screens worldwide. But, behind the sweeping plot is another character facing an odyssey of its own: the Mediterranean Sea.
Nearly 50 million more people in highly vulnerable communities globally are set to be pushed into acute hunger because of the strengthening El Niño weather phenomenon, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday.
For millions across Africa and the developing world, the biodiversity crisis is not an abstract problem – it’s the soil that no longer yields bountiful harvests and the fish that no longer return to coastal waters.
As much of the world faces grapples with above normal temperatures and major rainfall changes, the UN Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned on Friday that El Niño, a powerful climate pattern shaping global weather, will intensify starting next month.