After three years of drought, more than 23 million people across parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia face severe hunger. When the region’s long-awaited rains arrived in March, they should have brought some relief. But instead, flash flooding inundated homes and farmland, washed away livestock, and closed schools and health facilities. Mortality and malnutrition rates remain a serious cause for concern. WFP and partners launched a rapid scale up of life-saving assistance in drought-hit Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, which helped to keep famine at bay in Somalia.

The likelihood of El Niño developing this year is increasing, according to WMO - creating opposite impacts on weather and climate patterns to La Niña that would fuel higher global temperatures.

Climate change continued its advance in 2022, according to the annual report from the WMO. Droughts, floods and heatwaves affected communities on every continent and cost billions of dollars. Antarctic sea ice fell to its lowest extent on record and the melting of some European glaciers was great. The State of the Global Climate 2022 shows the planetary scale changes on land, in the ocean and in the atmosphere caused by record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. The years 2015-2022 were the eight warmest on record despite the cooling impact of a La Niña event for the past three years.

Shifting to a low-carbon economy can unlock new jobs and opportunities but it must be done in a way that is fair and possible for everyone, according to a new report from UN Climate Change.

In a new advocacy brief, UNFPA explores how climate change disproportionately harms women of African descent and other members of marginalized communities.

Future Olympic events are poised to drive sustainability in sport and fight climate change, led by a set of game-changing measures adopted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and supported by the UN. Speaking to UN News ahead of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, observed on 6 April, IOC’s Legacy Director, Tania Braga, explains how the 2024 Paris Games will be the first time that new sustainability guidelines will be fully implemented, aligning sport with development and climate action. Eileen Travers asked Ms. Braga how compatible the Olympics are with sustainable development.

Climate anxiety grips fishermen in Pakistan

Muhammad Kasim, his wife, and eldest son repair fish nets damaged during the recent floods. “We come from a family of fishermen. Fishing is in our blood – it is my badge of honour. It’s also our only source of income,” said Kasim. His lifelong profession and source of income for his large family is now in jeopardy until waters recede and ecological balance is restored. Income from fishing heavily depends on the season. As the floods struck during peak fishing season, local fishermen will have to seek other options to put food on the table. In 2022, the Government of Pakistan launched the “Living Indus” initiative to restore the river’s ecosystem, so the Indus basin can become resilient to climate change.

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) today released a synthesis report – the first such comprehensive scientific assessment since the Paris Agreement – underscoring that effective options exist and need to be put into action now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to human-caused climate change. The UN Secretary-General called on every country and every sector to massively fast-track efforts to tackle the climate crisis, saying “our world needs climate action on all fronts – everything, everywhere, all at once.”

Our weather, climate, and water cycle know no boundaries. International cooperation is essential to contending with our changing climate.  World Meteorological Day (23 March) is a reminder of it. This year, the observance day also marks WMO’s 150th anniversary. Throughout this time, meteorological services have worked around the clock to collect and standardize data that underpin the weather forecasts we now take for granted. The history of WMO is a remarkable story of scientific vision, technological development, and a unique cooperation system to serve society. Share its history!

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is holding its 58th session (13-17 March) in Switzerland. This is the last step towards the launch of its latest flagship publication, the Synthesis Report, set to be released on 20 March. This document will provide policymakers with a high-level, up-to-date understanding of climate change, its impacts, future risks, and options for addressing it. During the session the Panel, consisting of 195 IPCC member governments, will conduct the final review and approval of this report, which is expected to confirm that inaction is no longer an option.

Plastic is predominantly produced from oil and gas, both of which are fossil fuels. The more plastic we make, the more fossil fuel is required, the more we intensify the climate crisis. Also, plastic products create greenhouse gas emissions across their whole lifecycle. If no action is taken, greenhouse gas emissions caused by plastic could account for 19% of the Paris Agreement's total allowable emissions in 2040 to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Read more about climate change.

People are at the heart of all emissions reduction programs. The World Bank focuses on social inclusion at every stage of result-based climate finance programming — from up-front engagement and investment in communities to enable their participation in emissions reduction activities, to the design and implementation of benefit sharing plans that guide the distribution of results-based payments.

As climate change affects the distribution and availability of food, edible insects are a potential growth area, particularly as consumer demand rises. Insects are an essential food source for at least 2 billion people and given the low input costs and space required, even the poorest people in developing countries can collect, rear, process, sell, and eat insects. IFAD and the United States have partnered to help small-scale farmers in developing countries further reduce emissions while adapting to climate change.

A new nuclear application to predict the future of glaciers offers a more precise method that can help glaciologists more accurately model glaciers’ behaviour and predict their future.

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. We are at a defining moment for climate change. From threated food production, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in scale. Without drastic action today, adapting to these impacts in the future will be more difficult and costly.