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Environment - UN News Centre


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In the face of "clear and present danger," the United Nations climate change body is warning that a stepped-up coordinated response is needed to fend off the impacts of climate change after the world's carbon-dioxide concentrations surpassed their highest level in 4 million years.
Representatives from 170 countries have adopted a series of measures to strengthen protections against hazardous chemicals and waste during a United Nations conference in Geneva.
As an estimated 50 billion birds commence their annual migrations, the critical staging areas they need to complete these journeys continue to be degraded or are disappearing completely, the United Nations today warned on this year's World Migratory Bird Day.
A United Nations disaster assessment team has arrived in the Marshall Islands to help the Government respond to a severe drought affecting its northern islands, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today.
In an increasingly interconnected world where trillions of dollars worth of goods and services are traded annually, the rabidly expanding market for low-carbon and environmentally friendly products will create new opportunities, the United Nations environmental agency today reported.
The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has expressed deep concern over the rise of poaching, armed violence and destruction in the Central African Republic's (CAR) Dzanga-Sanga National Park, which is on the agency's World Heritage List.
More than 30 Pacific Rim countries are taking part in a United Nations-backed tsunami warning exercise to improve their ability to respond to alerts and coordinate regional action in the event of a disaster.
Delegates from more than 160 countries have agreed on a set of climate change policy measures as part of an ongoing United Nations-led effort to create a new, universal climate accord by 2015 to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre- industrial levels.
Preparation, especially by investing in preparedness strategies, is essential to prevent and manage multiple shocks such as natural disasters and economic crises, experts gathered at a United Nations forum in Bangkok told participants today.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today marked the 27th anniversary of the worst nuclear power plant accident in history by stressing that the impact of the Chernobyl disaster must never be forgotten and calling for continued international assistance for the people and regions affected.