The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
On the eve of the UN Climate Change negotiations in Glasgow, COP26, the heads of ten international organizations issued today a united and urgent call to governments to prioritize integrated water and climate action given the all-pervasive impacts on sustainable development.
“This letter also appeals for urgent and accelerated action to address the water-related consequences of climate change,” said World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) spokesperson Clare Nullis at a media briefing in Geneva.
The letter urges governments to address more effectively the water dimensions of climate change adaptation and mitigation, as provided for in a UN-agreed framework to accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 6 (ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all).
It was signed by the heads of WMO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN University (UNU), the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Global Water Partnership (GWP).
Reading the letter, Ms Nullis said that “climate change is dramatically affecting the water cycle, making droughts and floods more extreme and frequent and decreasing the natural water storage in ice and snow. Rising temperature and variability in flow patterns of water bodies also strongly affect water quality in surface and groundwater.”
“Changing precipitation patterns are already impacting agriculture, food systems, and livelihoods are becoming increasingly vulnerable, as well as ecosystems, and biodiversity. Rising sea levels threaten communities, infrastructure, coastal environments and aquifers,” she continued.
According to a recent UNICEF report on the impact of climate change on children, over one third of the world’s children (920 million) are currently severely exposed to water scarcity.
In addition, the UN World Water development Report 2020 emphasizes that water is the “climate connector”, allowing for greater collaboration and coordination in policy-making across the majority of targets for climate change (Paris Agreement), sustainable development (2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals ), and disaster risk reduction (Sendai Framework).
— ends —
STORY: COP 26 – Call for Water and Climate Action
TRT: 1’24’’
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 29 Oct 2021, GENEVA, Switzerland
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot, United Nations flags flying.
- Medium shot, inside the press conference room (B-128), showing speakers and participants.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Clare Nullis, Media Officer, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “This letter also appeals for urgent and accelerated action to address the water-related consequences of climate change.”
- Medium shot, journalists seated and masked taking notes of the briefing.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Clare Nullis, Media Officer, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Climate change is dramatically affecting the water cycle. It’s making droughts and floods more extreme and frequent and decreasing the natural water storage in ice and snow. Rising temperature and variability in flow patterns and water bodies also strongly effect water quality in surface and ground waters.”
- Close shot, journalist seated and masked in foreground, large-screen TV showing Mrs. Nullis to rear.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Clare Nullis, Media Officer, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Changing precipitation patterns are already impacting agriculture, food systems and livelihoods are becoming increasingly vulnerable as well as ecosystems and biodiversity.
Rising sea levels threaten communities, infrastructure, coastal environments and aquifers.”
- Close shot, a journalist taking notes during the press conference.
- Medium shot, participants inside the B-128 room attending the meeting.
- Close-up: a technician supervising the briefing on Zoom.
- Medium shot, inside the press conference room, showing speakers and participants.
- Close shot, journalist seated and masked listening to the briefing.
- Medium shot, participants to the briefing, masked, taking notes.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR , WHO
The past two months of intensifying Israeli bombardment in Lebanon have been the “deadliest and most devastating” in decades as communities uprooted from the front line have continued to flee across the border to Syria, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
2
1
3
Edited News | UNOG
“State of Silence”: Diego Luna brings the fight to protect the press to the UN in Geneva
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna has brought his fight to protect journalists all the way to the United Nations, in Geneva. Together with documentary director Santiago Masa, he is putting a spotlight on the silencing of investigative journalism in his country, and on the incredibly high price that many journalist have to pay in pursuit of truth.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“Today marks the grim milestone of 1,000 days since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale armed attack on Ukraine. Our Office has verified that at least 12,162 civilians have been killed since 24 February 2022, among them 659 children. At least another 26,919 civilians have been injured,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurance told the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
With COP29 in Baku now in its second - and final - week, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has reiterated his call for urgent human rights-based climate action.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL , UNICEF , WHO
Lebanon: Increased violence along Blue Line and ‘horrific new normal’ for children
In southern Lebanon, peacekeepers have witnessed “shocking” destruction of villages along the Blue Line and ever-deeper Israeli ground incursions, while the situation of children across the country is becoming increasingly desperate, the UN said on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNRWA
The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, confirmed on Monday that a large convoy of humanitarian aid was looted inside Gaza at the weekend, amid a near-total a breakdown in law and order and harassment of the agency’s staff by Israeli soldiers.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
In the nearly 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thousands of civilians have been killed, the country’s energy infrastructure is on the brink and drones terrify communities on the front line, the UN’s top aid official in the country said on Friday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna took a break from the big screen on Thursday to highlight the dangers faced by journalists in his country and beyond, condemning murders of reporters everywhere as “a scandal”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: ‘People are losing hope’ as aid access is refused to north, warns UNRWA
Besieged northern Gaza is a place of dead bodies lying in the streets and hospitals running out of blood packs – a situation that’s “nothing short of catastrophic”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence & Ajith Sunghay, Head of UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, on Gaza
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Sudan’s displaced have endured “unimaginable suffering” in their search for shelter from the country’s ongoing war, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘Exceptional achievement’: Humanitarians reach over 105,000 with polio vaccine in north Gaza
Despite ongoing attacks and access challenges, humanitarians have managed to inoculate over 105,000 children in north Gaza with the second and final dose of the oral polio vaccine, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.