Climate Change

World Heating Faster Than Expected, Scientists Sound Alarm in latest UN Report

By Umar Manzoor Shah
The global climate system continued its alarming trajectory in 2025, with multiple indicators reaching record or near-record extremes, underscoring the accelerating pace of climate change and its cascading impacts on ecosystems and human societies, according to the latest State of the Global Climate 2025 report released by the World Metereological Organisation (WMO).

My Name is Dhaka

By Mohammad Rakibul Hasan
My Name is Dhaka is a one-minute experimental film portraying Dhaka as a living, breathing entity with a 400-year history. Through a reflective voice, the city recounts its transformations, crises, and resilience. It captures contrasts between pollution and celebration, hardship and hope, revealing a megacity shaped by climate change, migration, and human survival.

Geospatial Innovations Addressing Critical Water Data Gaps in Asia

By Kareff Rafisura, Orbita Roswintiarti and Huang Qi
Across Asia, new initiatives are showing how satellite Earth observation data and AI-powered technologies can turn fragmented water-related data into actionable insights for managers and policymakers in line ministries and local governments.

Where Water Doesn’t Flow, Equality Doesn’t Grow – Challenging Global Patriarchy this World Water Day

By Lyla Mehta and Alan Nicol
The 2026 campaign on World Water Day’s focuses on Water and Gender – ‘where water flows, equality grows’ . While substantial progress has been achieved across a range of gender indicators spanning education, health and public participation, the situation around WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) is still marked by deep inequalities with women and girls disproportionately affected – and this reflects the persistence of global patriarchy.

80 Percent of Rural Households Without Direct Water Access – World Water Report

By Umar Manzoor Shah

A new United Nations report has warned that global water inequality remains one of the most pressing development challenges of the decade, with billions still lacking safe drinking water and sanitation – while women and girls continue to bear the heaviest burden of water insecurity.

Oil Shocks, Political Upheaval and the One Solution Governments Keep Ignoring

By Andrew Firmin
Once again, global oil prices are spiking, driven by the Israeli-US war against Iran. With Iran retaliating by attacking infrastructure and transport hubs and blocking the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes, oil supplies from the region are being choked, pushing up prices. The cost of a barrel of Brent crude – the international benchmark for oil prices – stood at US$73 before the conflict but has surged beyond US$100 since. It could go higher still as war continues.

Housing as Climate Resilience in Asia-Pacific Cities

By Sanjeevani Singh and Enid Madarcos
Access to adequate housing is a foundation of resilient cities. Safe and affordable homes provide stability, allow residents to access essential services, and enhance the capacity for communities to withstand and recover from shocks. Yet housing is often treated as a downstream outcome of urban development or disaster recovery rather than as a strategic investment in resilience.

As La Niña Fades, WMO Experts Warn That El Niño Could Set New Global Heat Records

By Oritro Karim
Earlier this week World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that the weakening conditions of La Niña conditions are beginning to fade, with climate conditions transitioning toward ENSO-neutral —a phase in which neither El Niño nor La Niña is present and oceanic and atmospheric conditions in the tropical Pacific remain near average. The agency noted that this shift could lead to the development of El Niño later in the year, a pattern typically associated with rising global temperatures and an increased risk of extreme weather events worldwide.

Turning Waste into Hope: A Youth-Led Model for Sustainable Change

By Karuta Yamamoto
From the beginning, this project was a collaboration between student teams in Japan and Korea. Although we live in different countries, we shared one common question: How can young people reduce waste while supporting families facing food insecurities?

Sudan: World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis

By Sania Farooqui
The ordinary sounds of Nahid Ali's home in Khartoum were completely drowned out by the sound of war which began on April 15 2023. Her baby was just 21 days old. The morning started as any typical day for a mother who had just given birth to her baby and needed to nurse her newborn while she took care of her other children. The gunfire began to erupt. The fighting began when two groups started to battle each other in the streets. The fighting which began in her area developed into a destructive countrywide war in Sudan which spread to her street within moments.

The Architecture of Hope Under Siege: One Year of Global Aid Dismantling

By Gina Romero
A year has passed since a 90-day freeze on U.S. foreign assistance signaled the deepening of a structural dismantling of international solidarity. Today, the "existential threat" to the freedom of association I warned of in my report to last year's General Assembly (A/80/219) is no longer a warning; it is a lived reality.

How do we Navigate Asia-Pacific’s Climate-Cyber Polycrisis?

By Anne Cortez
Communities globally are increasingly exposed to overlapping threats. Extreme weather, health emergencies and cyberattacks are occurring more frequently and simultaneously, often interacting in ways that amplify risks and strain response systems.

Climate Change Is Coming for Your Morning Coffee

By Busani Bafana
Your morning cup of coffee could soon cost more, thanks to climate change, which is raising the heat on the production of the world's most loved beverage.

Trachoma: What It Takes to Eliminate a Disease in the Pacific Islands

By Catherine Wilson
Two Pacific Island nations have been applauded for their successes in the global health campaign to eliminate the infectious eye disease, Trachoma.

As Biodiversity Loss Grows, Rome Talks Urge Nations to Step Up Action

By Stella Paul
Governments meeting in Rome last week acknowledged that global efforts to protect nature are still not moving fast enough, even as biodiversity loss continues to affect ecosystems, livelihoods, and economies worldwide.

Turning the Tide: How West Africa Is Reasserting Its Food Sovereignty Through Aquaculture

By Sidi Tiémoko Touré and Essam Yassin Mohammed
It is an indictment on the global food system that, despite having some of the richest and most endowed natural resources in the world and a burgeoning youth population, West Africa spends more than $2 billion a year importing aquatic foods to feed its people, almost half of which is spent by Côte d’Ivoire alone.

Brazil Can Boost Growth by Bringing More Women into the Labor Force

By Bunyada Laoprapassorn
When Brazil’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.2 percent in November 2025—the lowest in a quarter century—it punctuated an impressive turnaround from the pandemic. Yet, while men’s participation in the labor market has returned to its pre-COVID trend, women have fallen behind significantly.

Regional Trade in Transition: Digitalization, Servicing and De-risking

By Witada Anukoonwattaka, Yann Duval, Nikita Shahu and Niccolo Sainati
Trade in the Asia-Pacific region has moved into a new strategic reality. The latest Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Trends (APTIT) highlights that rapid technological change and a strategic reconfiguration of supply chains are reshaping how economies in the region trade and compete.

Extreme Heat Undermines Decent Work in North Eastern Kenya

By Chemtai Kirui
By 9 a.m. on a Wednesday, Hawa Hussein Farah is already watching the temperature climb. Awake since 6 a.m., she has prepared her three children for school before walking them to class and heading to Suuq Mugdi, an open-air market in Garissa town, to buy the fruit she will sell.

Africa at the Epicenter of Child Labour Crisis as Migration Fuels Exploitation

By Oritro Karim
Although global rates of child labour have declined since 2020, the practice remains a serious and persistent violation of children’s rights, undermining their safety, social development, and long-term economic stability. These risks are intensified by structural pressures— poverty, climate shocks, protracted conflict, and unsafe migration— that continue to push vulnerable children into crisis, and in some cases, trafficking and exploitation. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns that African countries remain among the most affected regions, underscoring the urgent need for coordinated policy action, cross-border cooperation, and sustained investment to protect children on the move and those at risk of labour exploitation.

Local Resilience Can Mitigate Climate Conflicts in the Pacific

By Tobias Ide

 
The Pacific Island countries are at the frontline of climate change. Their territories mostly consist of small, low-lying islands, with long coastlines and vast ocean spaces between them. Many livelihoods are based on agriculture or fishing, and importing water or food is often infeasible or expensive. This makes those large ocean nations highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as storms, droughts, and rising sea levels. Analysts have expressed concerns that this can result in various forms of socio-political conflict.
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