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Faced with a growing energy crisis, record greenhouse gas concentrations, and increasing extreme weather events,  in Sharm el-Sheikh (6 to 18 November) see

On September 7, the UN marked the third International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies. However, the skies are far from clear of air pollution. Only a month ago, the World Health Organization () warned that practically all the air we breathe is polluted, and that it’s killing around seven million people every year.

Conor Lennon from UN News spoke to Martina Otto and Nathan Borgford-Parnell from the , which is hosted by the UN Environment Programme (). They discussed the evolving science surrounding the issue, the extent to which air pollution is improving – if at all – and why international collaboration is essential, if the number of annual deaths is to be addressed.

Music: Ketsa, Within the Earth
Audio Credit: UN News/ Conor Lennon
Photo Credit: Unsplash/Malcolm Lightbody

Together with the Government of Japan, the UN Department of Political and ɫ��TVbuilding Affairs (UN DPPA) developed a Virtual Reality (VR) experience on climate change in the Asia Pacific region. This documentary captures impressions of participants and comments of the organizers during the launch event for the VR experience in New York City. In April 2022, DPPA released the VR experience “Sea of Islands” that brings viewers virtually to the Pacific islands to see the impact of the climate crisis. It encourages viewers to grasp the urgency, scale and pressing nature of climate change.

Nature-based solutions like habitat restoration, reforestation, coastal protection and invasive species removal create jobs at over 

Thirty years ago, the Earth Summit, which took place in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, paved the way for the establishment of three major conventions on the environment - specifically on biodiversity, climate change and desertification. As countries meet on all three conventions in 2022,  and indigenous rights activist Hindou Ibrahim talks about the indispensable role that indigenous communities around the world play in protecting life on our planet - its biodiversity, land and climate. 

Rich and healthy soils are the basis of all life on Earth. Yet up to 40 percent of the planet’s land is degraded, affecting half the world’s population. Especially at risk are people living in drylands – covering 45 percent of the Earth’s surface – which are prone to desertification and the devastating impacts of climate-related shocks such as disease, drought, flooding and wildfire. Around 12 million hectares of land are lost each year to degradation.  and its partners are working towards a land degradation-neutral world, to support ecosystem functions and improve food security.

A mother of three children, Laiku Lama worked as a farmer in the mountainous district of Humla, one of the most isolated and underdeveloped regions in Nepal. In 2018, she left her family to board a plane for the first time in her life. After six months studying in India, she literally enlightened her village upon her return: as a newly certified solar technician, she installed solar home lighting in 220 houses, benefitting over 2,100 people. Laiku was one of three Lama women who became so-called Solar Mamas, thanks to a South-South cooperation initiative.

Today and every day, commit to taking #ClimateAction! Here are 8 climate actions you can take for a sustainable world.

Demonstrating the wide-ranging consequences of the climate crisis, the UN  has appointed the first-ever Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the context of Climate Change. Ian Fry, who is of Australian and Tuvalu heritage, teaches environmental policy at the Australian National University in Canberra. As UN Special Rapporteur, he will be tasked with studying how climate change affects the full enjoyment of human rights, and recommend ways to prevent these effects.

In an with the UN’s Julia Dean, Mr. Fry explained why the Human Rights Council created his new role.

Audio Credit: UN/ Julia Dean

Audio Duration: 7'

Photo Credit: Kiara Worth

These countries will suffer the most devastating impacts of climate change even though they’re not responsible for causing it.

Climate activist Ashley Lashley leads a movement called the HEY (Health and Environment-friendly Youth) Campaign - where she works with young people across the Caribbean to help to foster sustainable lifestyles and understand the impacts of climate change on our health - and the health of our planet. "I believe that the wealth of our nation depends on the health of our environment, and our people,” says the 22-year-old, who became a  , to promote social development issues, such as health and the environment, among children and young people.

Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, limiting global warming to 1.5°C will be beyond reach. However, there is increasing evidence of climate action, say scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change () report released on Monday. “Climate promises and plans must be turned into reality and action, now,” the UN Secretary-General said in his statement on the report. “It is time to stop burning our planet and start investing in the abundant renewable energy all around us.”

“Go vote” is the resounding message that 20-year-old climate activist Sophia Kianni wants everyone to hear, because the only way to effect real change to slow global warming, is through better public policy, she says. 

One of seven activists who make up the Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, the young American bemoaned the failure of the US Congress to pass ‘Build Back Better’ legislation, to tackle the climate emergency. 

If people want to be engaged, they need to be involved in their political processes, Liz Scaffidi, but she began by explaining how she took up the mantle of climate activist. 

Audio Duration: 3'42"

Photo Credit: UN News/Elizabeth Scaffidi

Globally, $460 billion of value is lost each year by discarding clothes that could still be worn. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is implementing a three-year project funded by the European Union (EU) to develop innovative business practices and economic models in the textile value chain to help reduce environmental impact and improve livelihoods. Africa Collects Textiles is one of the first Kenyan start-ups to participate in the InTex project.

On 28 February, the UN’s  (IPCC) is expected to on the impacts of climate change and why it is imperative that we act now to address the growing risks. The report, which focuses on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, will detail how climate impacts are already affecting every living thing on the planet – humans, animals, plants, entire ecosystems – in every part of the world, and how, without much bolder action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to increasing climate impacts, more lives will be lost and more livelihoods destroyed.