Page 14 - United Nations

With 177 mn, India largest contributor to global population milestone: UN

As the world population touched 8 billion on Tuesday, India was the largest contributor to the milestone, having added 177 million people, while China, whose contribution to the next billion in the global population is projected to be in the negative, the UN said. India is expected to surpass China as the world's most populous nation by next year. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), in a special graphic to mark the global population reaching eight billion, said Asia and Africa has driven much of this growth is expected to drive the next billion by 2037, while Europe's contribution will be negative due to declining population. The world added a billion people in the last 12 years. UNFPA said that as the world adds the next billion to its tally of inhabitants, China's contribution will be negative. India, the largest contributor to the 8 billion (177 million) will surpass China, which was the second largest contributor (73 million) and whose contribution to the next billion will be ...

World population hits 8 billion, grows 1 billion in just 12 years

In a milestone for humanity, the global population hit 8 billion on Tuesday after having added a billion people in the last 12 years, with India on the cusp of overtaking China as the world's most populous country next year. The United Nations said the global milestone signals major improvements in public health that have lowered the risk of death and increased life expectancy but the moment is also a clarion call for humanity to look beyond the numbers and meet its shared responsibility to protect people and the planet, starting with the most vulnerable. "8 billion hopes. 8 billion dreams. 8 billion possibilities. Our planet is now home to 8 billion people," the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) tweeted. Unless we bridge the yawning chasm between the global haves and have-nots, we are setting ourselves up for an 8-billion-strong world filled with tensions and mistrust, crisis and conflict, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. India is projected to surpass China as the

World population projected to hit 8 billion people today: UN estimates

The latest projections by the United Nations suggest that the global population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100.

Story in charts: World nears 8 bn mark, India must focus on human capital

In 2026, the age group of 25 and 29 will have the highest number of people, and in 2036, India's largest population group will be in the late 30s

UN probes Egypt police misconduct claims at international climate talks

The United Nations says it is investigating allegations of misconduct by Egyptian police officers providing security at this year's international climate talks. This follows claims that attendees of events at the German pavilion for the COP27 summit were photographed and filmed after Germany hosted an event there with the sister of a jailed Egyptian pro-democracy activist, Alaa Abdel Fattah, who also holds U.K. citizenship. In a statement provided Sunday to The Associated Press, the U.N. climate office confirmed that some of the security officers working in the part of the venue designated as United Nations territory come from the host country, Egypt. This was due to the scale and complexity of providing security at a large scale event" such as the COP27 climate talks, the global body said. It added that their work takes place under the direction of the operations of the U.N. Department for Safety and Security (UN DSS). The security officers provided for this COP by the host countr

Statsguru: From net-zero target to forest cover, India's climate standing

The Emissions Gap Report 2022 showed India's per capita carbon dioxide emissions in 2030 will be nearly the same as its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target

COP27: Hundreds of activists protest for climate action at UN summit

Hundreds of activists called on industrialised nations to pay for the impact of climate change and to speed up the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy on Saturday in the largest protest yet at the UN climate summit in Egypt. Protests have mostly been muted at the conference, known as COP27, which is taking place in the seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Activists blamed high cost of travel, accommodation and restrictions in the isolated city for limiting numbers of demonstrators. The protesters marched through the conference's Blue Zone,' which is considered a UN territory and ruled by international law. They chanted, sang, and danced in an area not far from where climate talks and negotiations are taking place. The protests came at the end of the first week of the two-week summit, when typically protest action at climate summits is at its biggest. Pay for loss and damage now, said Friday Nbani, a Nigerian environmental activist who was leading a group of African ...

UN officials report progress on Russia's grain and fertiliser exports

Top U.N. officials updated a high-level Russian delegation Friday on progress to facilitate Russia's exports of food and fertiliser to global markets which have faced obstacles under an expiring wartime deal that has enabled Ukraine to ship over 10 million metric tons of grain from three Black Sea ports. U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths and U.N. trade chief Rebeca Grynspan, who has been in charge of the Russian side of the agreement, informed the Russian team led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin on steps taken to address key Russian issues -- facilitating payments, shipping, insurance for shipments of its grain and fertiliser and getting access to European Union ports, U.N. associate spokeswoman Stephanie Tremblay said in a statement. The meeting took place ahead of the Nov. 19 expiration of the separate agreements with Russia and Ukraine brokered by the U.N. and Turkey and signed in Istanbul on July 22. Russia briefly suspended its participation in the deal two .

Key UN committee seeks ICJ's legal opinion on Israel's occupation

A key UN committee approved a draft resolution Friday calling on the International Court of Justice to urgently issue its opinion on the legal consequences of denying the Palestinian people the right to self-determination as a result of Israel's actions since the 1967 Mideast war. The measure was vehemently opposed by Israel, which argued it would destroy any chance of reconciliation with the Palestinians. The vote in the General Assembly's Special Political and Decolonization Committee was 98-17, with 52 abstentions. The resolution will now go to the 193-member assembly for a final vote before the end of the year, when it is virtually certain of approval. The draft cites Israel's violation of Palestinian rights to self-determination from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the holy city of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of ...

UN rights body to hold urgent session on Iran amid crackdown on protestors

The UN's top human rights body is poised to hold a special session on Iran in the wake of the government's deadly crackdowns on protesters, threats against journalists and other alleged human rights violations in the Islamic republic. The Human Rights Council will hold the session in the week of November 21 "if possible on November 24," following a diplomatic request by Germany and Iceland. Germany sent a letter to the council offices Friday announcing the call for a special session "to address the deteriorating human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially with respect to women and children." At least one-third of the council's 47 member states need to support such a request and the move by Germany suggests it has lined up enough backing. The protests in Iran, sparked by the September 16 death of a 22-year-old woman after her detention by the country's morality police, have grown into one of the largest sustained challenges to the nation's theocracy since the

United Nations to seek out methane gas emitters with data from space

Big emitters of the heat-trapping gas methane can expect a call from the United Nations starting next year, when the global body launches a new platform to combine existing systems for tracking the potent greenhouse gas from space. The UN Environment Programme said on Friday that the new Methane Alert and Response System MARS for short is intended to help companies act on major emissions sources but also provide data in a transparent and independent way. It draws on satellite measurements performed by NASA and the European, German and Italian space agencies. Data from private satellite operators will also be incorporated in future. Each of these instruments give us a correct answer to a question that is slightly different, because each of them see different things," said Manfredi Caltagirone, head of the International Methane Emissions Observatory at UNEP. "So the only way you can have a correct picture is to connect them all together. The data will be released 45 to 75 days afte

Taliban violating human rights, plunging economy to 'dire' conditions: UN

The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution Thursday accusing the Taliban of violating the human rights of Afghan women and girls, failing to establish a representative government, and plunging the country into dire economic, humanitarian and social conditions. The resolution also pointed to persistent violence in the country since the Taliban takeover 15 months ago and the presence of terrorist groups such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State and their affiliates as well as the presence of foreign terrorist fighters. Germany's U.N. ambassador, Antje Leendertse, had hoped the 193-member General Assembly would approve the German-facilitated resolution by consensus. But a vote was requested and it was adopted 116-0, with 10 countries abstaining Russia, China, Belarus, Burundi, North Korea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Nicaragua, Pakistan and Zimbabwe. Sixty-seven countries did not vote. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, unlike Security Council resolutions, but they do refle

UN, Russians to discuss extension of Ukraine export deal in Geneva

Senior U.N. and Russian officials planned to meet in Geneva on Friday for talks on extending the deal that returned Ukrainian grain to world markets and was supposed to eliminate obstacles for Russian exports of grain and fertilizer. The agreement expires Nov. 19, and Ukraine and Western nations are pressing for it to be extended. However, Russia's government has said it is undecided, expressing dissatisfaction with how the deal has worked for its side. U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths and U.N. trade chief Rebeca Grynspan, who has been in charge of the Russian side of the agreement, were to meet with a Russian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, the U.N. said Thursday. Separate agreements brokered by the United Nations and Turkey and signed by Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul on July 22 were a rare example of tacit cooperation between the warring nations in the face of an escalating global food crisis following Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of its smaller .

Concerned at unfolding humanitarian situation in Afghanistan: India at UN

The envoy highlighted that India is closely monitoring the security situation in Afghanistan, and on issues related to Afghanistan, it is actively engaged with the international community

BS Number Wise: Here's why India's poverty estimates are problematic

Traditional estimates of poverty in the country rely on indicators that are outdated or inaccurate

United Nations criticises China's human rights abuses in Xinjiang

'OHCHR found evidence of patterns of torture, forced medical treatments, forced labour, incidents of sexual and gender-based violence, violations of reproductive rights'

UN chief Guterres voices concern over escalation of violence in Syria

Guterres calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and refrain from escalating the situation, said Stephanie Tremblay, an associate spokesperson for the Secretary-General, on Wednesday.

UN ramps up humanitarian appeal for life-saving assistance to Sri Lankans

The United Nations team in Sri Lanka and non-governmental organisations on Tuesday revised and extended their joint Humanitarian Needs and Priorities (HNP) plan, which aims to provide life-saving assistance to 3.4 million people amid Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis since independence. During the ongoing crisis since June, the HNP plan has been responding to the Sri Lankan government's request for UN-backed multi-sector support for the island nation's debt and food and medicine shortages. Governments and donor agencies have helped the humanitarian community reach over 1 million of the country's most vulnerable people with cash, food, school meals, medicine, protection, and livelihood support, according to a release. The HNP - aligned with appeals from other UN agencies - had raised USD 79 million for Sri Lanka thanks to support from multiple donors like the US and USAID, Australia, Japan including JICA, the UN Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF), Canada, Denmark, Norway, New ...

COP27: Treaty against use of fossil fuels floated at UN climate summit

The world should adopt a treaty that stops the spread of fossil fuel energy, much like it has tried to with nuclear weapons, a prominent small island leader proposed as vulnerable nations Tuesday continued to push for more action and money at international climate talks. Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano told The Associated Press Tuesday morning that he would propose a non-proliferation treaty for coal, oil and natural gas later in a speech at the United Nations climate summit in Egypt. Natano and Tuvalu, along with other vulnerable nations, have moral authority in negotiations, especially in light of mega climate disasters. A year ago at climate talks in Glasgow, a proposal to call for a phase out coal the dirtiest of the fossil fuels was changed at the last minute to phase down by a demand from India, earning the wrath of small island nations and some vulnerable countries. Small island nation leaders also called for some kind of global tax on the profits of fossil fuel ...

UNGA designates Nov 18 as World Day for prevention of child sexual abuse

The resolution invites all member states, relevant organisations of the UN and other international organisations to commemorate this World Day each year in a manner that each considers appropriate