African economies should seize the opportunity to better integrate into technology-intensive global supply chains and boost prosperity, but this depends on their ability to harness key market and investment trends, the UN’s trade and development body UNCTAD said on Wednesday.

The UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Patron of the Oceans, Lewis Pugh, is on a quest to swim the length of the iconic Hudson River in New York state to draw attention to the critical importance of healthy river ecosystems to oceans and the overall environment. 

The global average temperature for July 2023 was the highest on record and likely for at least 120,000 years, the UN weather agency WMO and partners said on Tuesday.

A man living in Viet Nam has been explaining how his community has learnt to adapt to and mitigate the effects of devastating flooding caused by tropical storms.

Global food prices rose for the first time in months following the collapse of the landmark agreement to ship grain from war-torn Ukraine to the rest of the world, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Friday.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed on Tuesday called for urgent efforts to boost climate action, protect biodiversity, promote sustainable food systems, and ensure decent jobs and social protection.

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) which oversees sustainable development across the UN, elected its new President on Thursday, marking the start of its new session.

The UN on Wednesday launched an initiative for accelerated transformation in food systems, with the Deputy Secretary-General highlighting key objectives to help get the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) back on track.

A new UN report raised concerns on Wednesday about the excessive use of smartphones, calling for them to be banned in schools worldwide. According to the UN’s education, science and culture agency UNESCO, the over-use of mobile phones impacts learning.

A full-scale Africa-led agrifood systems transformation will not be possible without game changing solutions, greater investments in smallholder farmers, embracing new technology and new partnerships at all levels.