New York, US (PANA) - To mark World Oceans Day, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will name Australian musician Cody Simpson as its first-ever Ocean Advocate to help raise awareness of the crucial role the ocean plays in the health of the planet and people. Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) – Zambia and Madagascar have reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change due to the devastating adverse effects that the the two countries, including the Southern African Development Community (SADC) sub-region and the entire African continent, have experienced. Full text...

Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) – Botswana’s Department of Meteorological Services (DMS) has announced that a cold front is expected to sweep through the country shortly. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – Stressing the importance of diplomacy to prevent and resolve trans-boundary disputes over water resources, Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday told the United Nations Security Council that water serves as “a catalyst” for cooperation among nations, even those that are not on good terms. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – As the international community focuses this week on preserving the health of global oceans and seas, the United Nations agencies on agriculture, environment and trade are committing to the sustainable trade of fisheries. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – Opening a “game-changing” international conference on the health of the world’s oceans and seas, top United Nations officials on Monday urged coordinated global action to protect the planet. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – With the theme of this year's World Environment Day – 'Connecting People to Nature' – aimed at highlighting the well-documented physical and mental health benefits of being in nature, the United Nations is on Monday flagging the vast benefits of such engagement, from food security and improved health to reliable water supply and climatic stability. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – Warming oceans, depleting sea life and plastic pollution are on the agenda for this week's ocean summit at the United Nations, which will call for urgent action to improve the health of the oceans, while also creating jobs and raising people out of poverty. Full text...

St. Petersburg, Russia (PANA) - Underscoring the threats posed by climate change – those already apparent, as well as those sure to impact the future of the planet – the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, on Friday urged Governments worldwide to “stay the course” and remain committed to climate action. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – The Spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General has said the decision by the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change is a major disappointment for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote global security. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says the US decision to leave the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in no way brings an end to this unstoppable effort to protect the environment. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – Highlighting the seriousness of the impact of climate change on the planet and its inhabitants, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on has called for sustained action to meet the global challenge and to ensure a peaceful and sustainable future for all. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – Tourism must not undermine the nature that attracts tourists in the first place, said the head of the United Nations-backed treaty on biological diversity, marking International Day for Biological Diversity. Full text...

Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - The World Bank has extended a US$145.5 million loan to Botswana for construction of water reservoirs, which are expected to cushion the semi-arid southern Africa country from future droughts, Finance Minister Kenneth Matambo said on Thursday. Full text...

Washington, D.C., US (PANA) - Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have adopted a decision to enhance the financial safety net for poor countries hit by large natural disasters. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) have partnered together with the Government of Tanzania and UN-Habitat in implementing a project aimed at reducing the level of pollution flowing into Lake Victoria, the UN-Habitat headquarters in Nairobi has said. Full text...

Bonn, Germany, Kenya (PANA) - Positive developments on coal use in China and India are likely to reduce projected global carbon emissions growth by roughly two to three billion tonnes by 2030 compared to forecasts made a year ago, the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) said on Monday. Full text...

Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) – Strengthening weather and climate services to protect lives, property and the economy from increasingly extreme and unusual weather is among the pressing issues being discussed at the annual session of the United Nations weather agency's coordinating body, which kicked off on Wednesday in Geneva. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – A healthy planet for migratory birds means a healthy plant for people, as they share the habitats on the Earth, the heads of two United Nations-backed environmental treaties have said, marking World Migratory Bird Day. Full text...

Lusaka, Zambia (PANA) - The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors on Wednesday approved US$32.80 million to improve rural livelihoods, reduce deforestation and unsustainable agricultural practice in the Eastern Province of Zambia. Full text...

Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Botswana’s Department of Meteorological Services (DMS) has described as "gross exaggeration" reports that the country is set for a "bitterly cold" winter. Full text...

Durban, South Africa (PANA) – A new Atlas released at the 2017 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Durban, South Africa, this week highlights the opportunities and challenges for sustainable development of the energy resources on the continent. Full text...

Durban, South Africa (PANA) - Treepedia, an interactive website that measures the “green canopy”, or trees and vegetation of cities around the world, announced on Friday it has included Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban as its first African cities. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Kick-starting action on the recently-adopted Global Forest Goals to protect, sustainably manage and increase world’s forest area will be a key focus for delegations gathered in New York for the twelfth session of the UN Forum on Forests, which opened Monday at the United Nations headquarters. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - Many countries in Africa are striving towards achieving the sustainable goals and climate change is one of the greatest threats to achieving sustainable development, a senior official of the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) said Friday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – Environmental and climate literacy is the engine not only for creating green voters and advancing environmental and climate laws and policies but also for accelerating green technologies and jobs, the United Nations is emphasising on Mother Earth Day. Full text...

Albion, Mauritius (PANA) - A five-day regional training workshop on Coastline Mapping using Satellite Imagery was launched on Tuesday at the Mauritius Oceanography Institute (MOI) in Albion, near Port-Louis. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Against the backdrop of almost two billion people around the world relying on sources of drinking-water contaminated with faeces, the United Nations has called on countries to “radically” increase investments in water and sanitation infrastructure not only to protect their populations from deadly diseases but also to ensure that they are able to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – With global leaders heading to the United Nations for a major conference in June on the protection and sustainable use of the planet’s oceans, the UN has announced that the inaugural World Ocean Festival will kick off the week-long event, with activists and enthusiasts taking to the streets – and waterways – of New York City to raise their voices to reverse the declining health of our oceans. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The world added record levels of renewable energy capacity in 2016, even as investment in clean energy fell, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reported on Thursday. Full text...

Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) – Botswana Geoscience Institute (BGI) has rejected media reports suggesting that the earthquake which occurred in the southern Africa country on Monday was caused by fracking. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Mali has become the first country to ratify the Kigali Amendment, a ground-breaking amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Tuesday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Applauding the Chinese government’s closure of many of its ivory factories and retail outlets, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on Monday called on other countries and territories to follow China’s example and improve the survival prospects for elephants across the world. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Global efforts to protect the climate and the ozone layer have received a boost with the first ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Monday. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) – The United Nations on Saturday evening dimmed the lights at its iconic Headquarters complex in New York and other facilities around the world in observance of the tenth annual 'Earth Hour,' global event to put the spotlight on the issues facing the planet and to inspire millions across the world to live more sustainably. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday in New York said climate change is an unprecedented and growing threat to peace, prosperity and development and addressing it presents an economic opportunity for governments and business. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says clouds inspire art and thought, but few natural phenomena are as important to weather, climate or water as clouds are vital to all of them. Full text...

Pretoria, South Africa (PANA) - Activists of the Breakfree coalition on Thursday took part in a "funeral procession" outside the Department of Energy (DoE) in Pretoria to highlight the impact of coal-fired power stations on South African communities. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Warning that as many as 600 million children – one in four worldwide – will be living in areas with extremely scare water by 2040, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday called on governments to take immediate measures to curb the impact on the lives of children. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Cautioning on the impact of human activity such as practices and use of woodfuel on world’s forests, the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Wednesday called for better wood-energy conversion technologies and more sustainable management of forests so that everyone benefits. Full text...

Rome, Italy (PANA) - The UN Food and Agriculture (FAO) and the world's leading climate-change authority have signed an agreement allowing both institutions to better serve countries around the world to adapt to and mitigate the impact of warmer global temperatures and meet their pledges to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - Some 600 million children – or 1 in 4 children worldwide – will be living in areas with extremely limited water resources by 2040, according to a UN children's agency (UNICEF) report released on World Water Day. Full text...

Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - Global temperatures set yet another record last year and the world witnessed exceptionally low sea ice, and unabated sea level rise and ocean heat, the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday, warning that the extreme weather and climate conditions have continued into 2017. Full text...

Brussels, Belgium (PANA) - In response to the rise in humanitarian needs and forced displacement, the European Union (EU) has affirmed its determination to continue supporting people affected by natural and man-made disasters, by providing life-saving access to safe and clean water. Full text...

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) – Mauritius will develop a Strategy and Action Plan for Waste Management and Resource Recovery, with the objective of tapping the potential of energy recovery from waste, PANA learnt Tuesday from official sources in the Mauritian capital. Full text...

Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) – Botswana has donated food supplies to two provinces in Kenya to benefit communities adversely affected by the drought situation in Kenya. Full text...

Berlin, Germany (PANA) - The United Nations has found that smarter and more efficient use of the world’s natural resources today can yield an “environmental win-win’ by injecting US$2 trillion into the global economy by 2050 while also offsetting the costs of ambitious climate change action. Full text...

Cairo, Egypt (PANA) - Access to water is a fundamental need for food security, human health and agriculture, and its looming scarcity in the North Africa and Middle East region is a huge challenge requiring an "urgent and massive response," FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva said on Thursday in Cairo. Full text...

Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) – Citizens of Botswana have been urged to continue to protect and preserve wildlife for posterity. Full text...

Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) - The African Development Bank (AfDB) and Climate Investment Funds' Forest Investment Programme (CIF FIP) have signed a US $24 million loan agreement with Form Ghana Ltd. to commence an innovative project on public-private partnership for the restoration of degraded forest areas in Ghana. Full text...