During February’s Lunar New Year holiday, Vietnam Zero Waste Alliance coordinator Xuan Quach and her family were returning home to Thai Binh. When they were halfway home, Xuan’s brother nonchalantly tossed a plastic bottle out the window. Xuan opened her mouth to chide her brother, but was surprised when her niece scolded him, “Dad! Don’t contribute to plastic pollution!” Xuan grinned, knowing that all of her hard work educating the public about the dangers of plastic waste was paying off.

“When women can decide on the timing and spacing of their births, are treated with respect, and offered quality of care across the life course—they are not only able to survive, they, their families, and their communities are able to thrive and flourish. By directly and indirectly contributing to women’s empowerment, midwives are contributing to strengthen economic and productive and equitable societies,” said Dr. Julitta Onabanjo, Director of the Technical Division at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), New York, at a recent event hosted by UNFPA as part of the 66^th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women. Midwives and midwifery experts convened to discuss the important role that midwives play in the improvement of gender equality, women’s economic empowerment, and climate justice.

The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6^th Assessment Report (AR6) from Working Group II (WG2): Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability presents the stark implications of climate change. At today’s warming level of 1.1°C, a wide range of impacts to people and nature are attributed to human-caused climate change, including hindering progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), damaging infrastructure and economic activities, harming human health and causing excess deaths, and increasing humanitarian needs. Some impacts, like those on sensitive ecosystems, are already irreversible. The more vulnerable are hit harder, due to pre-existing structural conditions that increase their exposure and sensitivity to hazards.

Finance for climate action is growing—however, much of this money is being invested in wealthier nations, while the regions where funds are needed most are often overlooked and underfunded by both public and private institutions. The good news for funders is that there are climate solutions that not only significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also create cascading social and public health benefits for communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis. For those looking to get the biggest return on their investment—for both people and planet—we offer two particularly promising solutions: ramp up funding for clean cooking and electricity where they matter most. 

Last September, Secretary-General António Guterres outlined the United Nation’s Our Common Agenda in a speech to the General Assembly. His remarks focused on the future of global cooperation for the next 25 years. It was imperative, he messaged, to recognize that our accelerated interconnectedness, and the formidable challenges we all face, can only be addressed through a reinvigorated multilateralism, with the United Nations at the core of collective member efforts. We must think big, act swiftly, and work effectively, he said, to reshape how we move forward today to achieve the goals of the UN declaration commemorating the 75th anniversary of the United Nations.

Security conditions in the Sahel are rapidly deteriorating. Since 2016, the region has witnessed a 16-fold increase in terrorist attacks. In Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, 10.5 million people are facing starvation, and with climate-related disasters increasing and intensifying in the region, food insecurity is projected to rise. Against this backdrop, rapid population growth is outpacing governments’ ability to provide access to basic services. These pressures have transformed the central Sahel into the epicenter of a forced displacement crisis, with dire long-term and global humanitarian consequences that reverberate well beyond the region’s borders.

The humanitarian needs for those who are displaced are unprecedented, said Amb. Mark Green, President of the Wilson Center and former USAID Administrator, at a Doha Forum panel hosted by the Wilson Center’s Middle East Program.