The United Nations Office at Geneva
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UN Geneva Press Briefing - 10 January 2025
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1:06:20
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MP4
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3.9 GB
UN GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING
10 January 2025
Global temperatures figures
Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), stated that the WMO would later today confirm that 2024 was the hottest year on record. Extraordinary sea and land temperatures had been accompanied by extreme weather across the world, said Ms. Nullis. Many climate change impacts could be observed throughout the year. WMO would be issuing a press release at 5 pm Geneva time, and the six sources of data used in the consolidated report were the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, the United Kingdom Met Office, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, Berkley Earth, and Japan Meteorological Organization. WMO would also be incorporating data from the Ocean Consortium at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. At COP29 in Baku in November 2024, Ms. Nullis reminded, the WMO had already warned that 2024 would be the warmest on record, which would be confirmed later today.
Responding to questions, Ms. Nullis reiterated that all data sets were quite clear that the world was heading in the wrong direction. Ms. Nullis reminded that 2023 had been the warmest on record thus far and was now about to be overtaken by 2024. It did not mean, however, that every subsequent year would set a new temperature record. Going over the Paris Agreement’s limits of 1.5 Celsius degree warming was indeed a warning sign, but those trends would need to manifest over a longer timespan to declare that the Paris temperature limits were definitely breached. Ms. Nullis confirmed that the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had stated that La Niña conditions were present and expected to persist through February to April 2025.
California wildfires
Michele Zaccheo, for the United Nations information Service (UNIS), said that the UN Secretary-General was shocked and saddened by the widespread devastation caused by the fast-moving wildfires in the Los Angeles area in California. He extended his sincere condolences to the families of those who had lost their lives and commended the courage of the thousands of firefighters and first responders doing everything they could in extremely difficult conditions. The United Nations stood ready to provide assistance if needed.
Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that the WMO extended its condolences to the victims of the Los Angeles wildfires. She reminded that California was no stranger to wildfires. The US National Weather Service had issued a red flag warning for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, which said that because of the winds there was a risk of a further spread of wildfires. The 2024 rainy season for the Los Angeles area as a whole had been slightly above normal, but 2025 so far had been dry. The big compounding factor in this context were the winds, causing low humidity and temperature increases. The weather played a major role in this regard, and causes of wildfires could be multifold, said Ms. Nullis. NOAA stated that “climate change, including increased heat, extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States during the last two decades.” Ms. Nullis also reminded of a 2016 NOAA study which found climate change enhanced the drying of organic matter and doubled the number of large fires between 1984 and 2015 in the western United States. A 2021 study supported by NOAA concluded that climate change had indeed been the main driver of the increase in fire weather in the western United States.
Replying to questions, Ms. Nullis said that prevention had an important role to play, including preparation of adequate evacuation plans. She stressed the importance of an early warning system, which had worked well in this case.
Margaret Harris, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that wildfires could have a significant morbidity and mortality effects. The smoke was of major concern, as the atmospheric particle matter PM with diameter 2.5 was associated with a premature death in general population. Particles deposited on the lung surface could induce tissue damage and lung inflammation, among other effects. More interdisciplinary research was needed to understand a long-term effect, she stressed.
Announcements
Pascal Sim, for the Human Rights Council (HRC), said that the 19th cycle of the Human Rights Council had begun this year, under the presidency of the Swiss Ambassador Jürg Lauber, with an organizational meeting of the Universal Periodic Review. A total of 42 States would be reviewed under the UPR mechanism in 2025, and the UPR session would begin on 20 January, informed Mr. Sim. Mr. Sim also confirmed that the HRC President would brief the media ahead of the next HRC session, which would start on 24 February.
From 13 to 17 January, the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action would hold its 23rd session in Room XVII of the Palais des Nations.
Mr. Sim further referred to the statement by the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which said that the recent arrests, including those of prominent human rights defenders, political leaders, and their relatives, constituted yet another attack on the rights and freedoms of the Venezuelan people. Full statement is available here.
He also informed that commissioner Hanny Megally of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria had concluded a first visit to Syria on 9 January, taking crucial steps to foster dialogue and engagement with the new Syrian caretaker Government. He had visited Damascus, where he had held meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense. He had also visited one of the detention centres of the former regime, which he described as “harrowing”. Such abuses should never be repeated again, and all those responsible should be held accountable, stated Mr. Megally. Statement on Mr. Megally’s visit can be read here.
Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), announced that, in the context of 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation, on 16 January the WMO would organize a detailed, in-depth briefing online with experts on glaciers.
Responding to a question, Margaret Harris, for the World Health Organization (WHO), informed that on 14 January, the WHO Regional Committee for Africa would meet to decide on the process for the election of the next Regional Director for Africa. More details can be found here.
Michele Zaccheo, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), informed that the Committee on the Rights of the Child would hold its 98th session from 13 to 31 January. During the session, the Committee w review the reports of Slovakia, Eritrea, Honduras, St Kitts and Nevis, Peru, Gambia, and Ecuador. The CRC would also hold a meeting with Member States.
In response to questions about the impact of the recent decision announced by META to terminate fact-checking on its platforms, Mr. Zaccheo noted that the UN was constantly monitoring and evaluating the social media space and its role within it. The position of the United Nations was that it was important to be present on social media platforms in order to provide evidence-based information and to bring attention to the dangers and mis- and disinformation. On behalf of WHO, Ms. Harris stated that her agency believed it was important to present trusted information on all channels where people might be seeking out such information, including various social media platforms.
Finally, Mr. Zaccheo informed that the UN was now accepting nominations for the United Nations Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize, which aimed to recognize the achievements of those who dedicated their lives to the service of humanity. The deadline was 28 February, and more information is available here.
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Teleprompter
Bonjour, Bonani.
Welcome to this press briefing for today, Friday, the 10th of January.
To the delight of some and possibly to the chagrin of some others, it's a relatively light briefing schedule this morning.
And I think we're going to start with Pascal, who's kindly agreed to come here in person and he's got a couple of updates as well as, you know, statement and announcement.
So go ahead, let's go Merci Miquete Bonani.
Happy New Year to you all.
The UN Human Rights Council began this week it's 19th cycle under the new presidency of Ambassador Joel Glauber of Switzerland with an organisational meeting on the Universal Periodic Review.
As a reminder, a total of 42 states will have their human rights records reviewed this year through the UPR mechanism.
A full list of these 42 states under review is available on the Human Rights Council website and upcoming UPR session.
The 48 session will begin on the 20th of January.
I also have a programming note for this coming week.
The Intergovernmental Working Group on the Durban Declaration and Plan of Action will hold its 23rd session in Geneva from the 13th to the 17th of January.
Most of the discussion of this working group will be on the draught UN Declaration on the Respect, Protection and Fulfilment of the Human Rights of People of African descent.
The meeting will be held in Room 17 of the Palais and will not be webcast.
But this is a public meeting and sorry, I've been running to the press briefing room.
I also have two short media statements from 2 investigative body that were established by the Human Rights Council.
These statements were issued yesterday afternoon.
The independent international fact finding mission on Venezuela condemned the recent arrest in the country ahead of the presidential inauguration schedule.
Today.
The Fact Finding Mission said that these recent arrests, including those of prominent human rights defenders, political leaders and their relatives, constitute yet another attack on the rights and freedom of the Venezuelan people.
On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, the Mission has registered 16 arrests or apprehensions in various states across the country, targeting political leaders, human rights defenders and even relatives of opposition figures.
The Fact Finding Mission urgently calls for the immediate disclosure of the whereabouts of the individual arrested, ensuring that they are safeguarded and protected by law.
It also called for all arbitrarily detained individuals to be released immediately and unconditionally.
I have another statement from this Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
Mr Ani Megali, one of the three Commissioners of the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, concluded yesterday his first visit to Damascus.
Mr Migueli LED a team of this Commission that was established by the Human Rights Council in 2011, and he held meeting with government officials, including the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Discussions covered justice for victims and families, the protection of mass graves and evidence, and continued engagement with the Commission.
Mr Migueli welcome the willingness of the new authorities to continue engaging with the Commission on its future visits.
And Mr McGarry said that he, he was in one of these detention centre that he he visited and he said, I quote, Standing in tiny windowless cells still filled with stench and marked by suffering was a stark reminder of the harrowing accounts the Commission has documented over nearly 14 years of investigations.
He added that these abuses must never be repeated again and that those responsible must be held accountable.
Both the Commission of Inquiry on Syria and the Fact Finding Mission on Venezuela will present updated reports to the 50th session of the Human Rights Council this spring in March.
If you have any follow up questions, please contact Todd Pittman for Venezuela and you and Ericsson for Syria.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Pascal.
Any questions for him?
Yes, I have one.
I I see two, I see two online, but let's go ahead, yeah?
Good morning.
Thank you very much for taking my question.
Michael Pascal, My question is regarding the new President, the incoming President, Ambassador, your Glober, is he going to be speaking here informing us about his programme of work for 2025?
And then the other question is related to actual this Meta, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg has declared that they would stop moderating their sites which reach billions of people, and that therefore will create even more confusion in the information global information ecosystem, if the **** Commissioner will have a statement regarding that decision.
OK.
Yes, Ambassador, your Loebber will brief the press prior to the start of the 58 session that will begin on the 24th of February.
So his press conference is usually scheduled on the Wednesday before the session starts.
That will most likely be the morning of the 19th of February, but we'll come from that with you a bit later.
Regarding your second question, I mean it's a question addressed to the **** Commissioner or the Human Rights Office.
I think you're better, it's better for you to contact Ravina's team on this regard.
Yeah, thank you.
I have a couple of questions online.
We'll go to Nick Catherine and then I see you already in the in the room.
So Nick, go ahead.
Yeah.
Thanks, I'm the Hyperscope.
I just wanted to check in relation to the COI visit to Syria was Hani.
Mugali, the only.
Commissioner on the trip, who else was in the team and has there been any move to establish a permanent kind of base for the Commission researchers or the Secretariat staff in Syria?
Thank you.
Thank you, Nick.
Yes, I can confirm that Anne Megali was the only of the three commissioners who undertook this visit to Damascus.
I don't have the specific details about how big his team was, but as you probably remember, earlier this year, another team of the another expert team of the COI did a preliminary visit to the country.
As far as how, how big or how permanent the presence of the Commission will be in Syria, that's still something to be determined.
But for sure, Mr Megali welcomed the the engagement of the new caretaker government with the Commission, something that hasn't happened with the previous government over the past 14 years.
Thank you Pascal.
Catalan film com.
Yes.
Good morning, Nicola and good morning, Pascal.
Best wishes to both of you for this new Year.
In fact, my question is related to human rights.
That's not for Pascal at the Council, but is there anyone from the Human rights office?
It's related to Syria.
And my question is about the involvement of foreign fighters in Syria.
And apparently the new authorities have been given foreign fighters **** positions in certain cities like Tartus, Latakia and other cities.
It's reported by people living there that you have foreigners that are in fact organising and heading those cities.
Is there any comment from the Office of the **** Commissioner on on that question, please?
Thank you.
Catherine, we've seen those same reports.
I don't have anybody online from the Office of the **** Commissioner today.
I expect that that's because they're not briefing proactively.
But I think that if you're if you're looking for a response to that particular question, could either forward it or you can perhaps contact them directly.
Thank you so much.
I think I have Yuri next.
Go ahead.
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OK, Gabriela.
Hi there.
I have a question but it's not on the Human Rights Council so I don't know if I can ask it now.
It's about Sudan.
Well, you know, go ahead and we'll see.
We'll see what we can do with it.
OK, thank you.
It's a question to UNICEF.
I think James is, is listening and it could be also for Rocha, but I don't think they are listening.
So I, I was wondering if it could give us a little update of the situation there and in particular about the, the Adre border to know how many trucks are going into that border.
And given it's open, is there a possibility for the UN to, to increase the aid coming to the people in Darfur, given the, the, the last report saying that famine is increasing in that region?
Thank you.
Thank you.
And yes, James, I don't know if you're, if you're listening in and if you're, if you can come in on that over maybe not.
Maybe we'll take a take a pass on that one and see if if, if James can can connect with us again later on.
Gabriella, I have a question from you, hopefully.
Yes.
For people in present.
Yeah, Pascal, sorry, I was a little bit late And you're talking, you were talking about a mission that is going to Syria.
Is Miss Mrs Carla Quintana going in this group or not?
And I don't know if she's coming to Geneva to talk to talk to us, because I think that the issue of disappearances, it's such a big thing in, in Syria.
I don't know if you have any numbers, any estimate of how many people had have been disappeared since the manifestations, the, the, the protests.
Thank you.
Well, I don't have the exact figures with me, but I can certainly double check the figures that this Commission of inquiry has accumulated over the 14 years of its mandate.
When it comes to the independent institution and missing person, as you know, this is another mechanism that does not report to the Human Rights Council.
We have a new communication colleague who's in charge of this institution, and we'll be happy to put you in touch with her.
Yeah.
Thank you very much.
Any more questions for Pascal?
If not, I think I think you're off the hook.
OK, let's see.
Coming up next, we've got Claire Nollis, our colleague from the World Meteorological Organisation, and she's got an important announcement regarding the release of some figures on global temperatures, which is happening later today.
Yes, so thank you.
The World Meteorological Organisation will later today confirm that 2024 was the hottest year on record.
We saw extraordinary land and sea surface temperatures, extraordinary ocean heat, accompanied by, as we all know, very extreme weather affecting many countries around the world, destroying lives, livelihoods, hopes and dreams.
We saw many climate change impacts, retreating sea ice, glaciers.
It was an extraordinary year.
We will be issuing a press release at 5 PMI know this is very, very late for European times.
The reason for this is that the World Meteorological Organisation, our consolidated global figure, is based on 6 international data sets.
These are from the European Copernicus Climate Change Service, the UK's Met Office, both of which have already released their findings earlier this morning.
Additionally, it's based on the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA data sets.
Those two will be released later today at 5:00 PM, which is why we can't release the consolidated figure for as long as those two individual, you know, data sets are not, are not publicly available.
In addition to that, we use data from Berkeley Earth, which is US based and from the Japan Meteorological Organisation.
In addition, this year, as you will see with the press release as it when it comes out, we will be incorporating data from an ocean, an ocean consortium which is led by a group within the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which has got very, very important findings on ocean heat and sea surface temperatures.
That's all I can really say for now because you know, it is, it is under embargo.
But obviously at COP 29 in, in, in Baku in November, WMO did back then say that 2024 was on track to be the the warmest on record and that will be confirmed today.
I also have given that it's quite a short briefing.
If you want, I can also say something on the California fires, but perhaps we can have questions first.
On absolutely that would be great, but I see we have a question online from Jeremy launch.
So I would like to give the floor to him and see I assume this is for Claire.
Jeremy yes it is.
Thank you Michael.
Hi, Claire.
Just to understand, I know you.
Can't say much and I guess that we can't have the thing, the embargo before 5.
The question is how, how different the figures will be tonight at 5:00 PM compared to what Copernicus said this morning?
I mean, compared to the 1.6 that was published, like, you know, anything different from from there, it's small but significant differences.
And especially, you know, given all the interest around, you know, the one, the 1.5 figure, it's, it's not, it's not a magic figure.
It's, but there is obviously a lot of interest around that.
And this is the importance of the WMO figures which do combine the, the, the different data sets for of the data sets that we used are based on sort of traditional observations.
2 of them are based on what we call reanalysis.
So that's sort of computer, you know, computer generated Copernicus is one of the reanalysis data sets and they tend to come out a little bit warmer than the than than the others.
So it's, it's not, it's not a huge difference.
But you know, we're scientists, we, we, we have to be accurate.
We have to be, have to get it right.
And there's been a great deal of internal discussion at WMO in the past few days about, you know, calculating and interpret, interpreting these, these different data sets.
But I think that, you know, the one thing that we need to underline is that all the data sets are, you know quite clear.
We are heading in the wrong direction.
And as our secretary general stressed in Baku at COP and in subsequent interviews, even if one year, one calendar year or even if one calendar month does go above 1.5° above the pre industrial baseline, it does not mean that the Paris agreement is, is dead.
That you know there is, there is an important difference in that.
Thank you, Claire.
So I've got Isabel, Christophe.
And then I'm sorry, I've got Gabriella and then Christophe and then Isabel online.
Gabriella, go ahead.
I thank you.
Thank you, Claire.
Happy New Year to you.
I don't know, maybe I'm not correct, but last year you said that it was the warmest year.
So what is happening?
Each year is warmest and year record.
Each year is a record.
What is happening there?
Thank you.
Different, different, different things.
There is long term global warming that is a very clear, very clear long term signal.
So 2023 was the warmest on record by by quite a large margin.
What we've seen in 2024, what we saw the the latter part of 2023 and the early part of 24 was we had an El Nino event.
El Nino, you know, adds additional heat to, to, to the, to the atmosphere.
So, you know, El Nino definitely played, played a role.
It does not mean that every single year you know from now on is going to set a new temperature record, because we do have to.
Factor in, you know, naturally occurring climate variability, but the long term trend is is definitely in the wrong direction.
It's upwards.
Christophe, thanks for taking my question.
It's about the 1.5 and what you just said about the Paris Accord is not out of the window.
It's a bit confusing because Copernicus for example gives an average over 2 years and it's over 1.5.
So could you just tell us again, at what point will we consider that, you know, Paris is dead now?
Is the subject of it of obviously a lot of discussion, many studies the there is no exact definition within the Paris Agreement, but it it is interpreted as over baseline of of of several decades, at least two decades.
So, you know, one or two years, it's a clear warning signal, even one year is a warning signal, even one month is a warning signal.
But we, you know, we have to have a much, much longer term average.
And there are, you know, a great deal of scientific studies on that.
And indeed, the World Meteorological Organisation has set up an expert working group to look at precisely that precisely that issue.
Thank you, Claire.
I think we had.
I don't see Isabel anymore, but I see Jeremy with his hand up.
I think that's a new end.
It is, yes.
Thanks.
You mentioned La Nina, Claire, and I was wondering how concerned are you and Pablo that Lenina didn't really show up so far or very little, let's say.
And, and could this be, could, could 2025 be a turning point if La Nina is not showing up and we end up with another record at the end of the year?
Is that a major fear for you?
So, so at the end of 2023, the start of 2024, we had El Nino, which is the the warming phase.
Our last update, which I think was released early December said that I think it was a sort of 50% chance of La Nina, which is the cooling side of the, you know, of the equation.
And I see that overnight the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, they did actually declare a La Nina event.
We at WMO, we haven't done that yet.
It takes us a little bit more time.
And the reason is that we when when we declare an El Nino or La Nina, it's what we call a consensus statement.
So that's based on different global models from around the world.
A lot of expert opinion which takes us, you know, which is why it takes us a little bit longer to do.
So not all the models always agree, you know, sometimes they're differing interpretations on the oceanic component of it, sometimes differing interpretations on the atmospheric components.
So, but as I said, NOAA overnight did declare La Nina event and I am not aware that there is any evidence so far to say that because of climate change we will no longer see La Nina.
What we would say is that, you know, the long term warming signal from human activities, from greenhouse gases is, you know, just as just as strong as, if not if not stronger than any signal from from El Nino and La Nina.
Thank you, Claire, You probably all saw that yesterday.
Oh, pedal Christophe, go ahead, one more.
No, it's just about you were going to talk about the Los Angeles fires.
So that's right.
We're we're we're moving, we're transitioning to that.
You saw probably that the Secretary general issued a statement yesterday expressing a shock and sadness at the widespread devastation caused by the wildfires in Los Angeles.
And on this, I just wanted to invite Claire to tell us a few things from the only MO side.
And obviously from the perspective of the World Meteorological Organisation, we extend the condolences of the UN Secretary General.
It's a terrible, terrible tragedy for everybody concerned.
It's terrible news for health, for air quality, and obviously for people's lives and ecosystems and the local economy.
To give you some context on this, California is no stranger to wildfires.
You know, we do see them regularly.
This event is extraordinary in that it's impacting one of the largest cities in the United States and obviously it's made media headlines because of the nature of the of the properties, you know, that that have been that have been destroyed.
The US National Weather Service and the Los Angeles branch has a **** end sort of upper end red flag warning in effect through Friday morning local time in parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
And it says due to strong winds, there will be increased risk of rapid fire spread and extreme fire behaviour in some areas, Not all areas, I hasten to add, in some parts of Los Angeles, winds are, are weakening.
It's not the role of WMO to, to, to issue forecasts.
You know, that is the role of the National Weather Weather Service and in particular in, in, in Los Angeles.
But it is just to give you, just to give you an idea why is this happening?
Last year's rainy season for the Los Angeles area as a whole was, was, you know, slightly above normal, if anything.
But from, you know, late 2024 until now, it's been below normal.
And the big compounding fact, so you've got, you've got dry soils, low humidity.
The big compounding factor in this is the winds.
It's a well known weather pattern in California.
It's quite local called the Santa Ana winds.
And they typically occur in, in this, in this region.
They're **** winds from the mountains.
They cause temperatures to rise and they cause very low humidity, drying out the ground and vegetation.
If you look at a map of of of the US, it's almost a tale of two of two countries.
You know, the headlines earlier this week were of the terrible winter storms which have affected a lot of the US and continue to affect parts of the US.
But then obviously you've got the that, you know, quite small area, which is, you know, absolutely devastating losses.
The question that we'd always get is what about climate change?
Weather here is playing is playing a big role.
I need to stress, you know, it's the winds and it's the it's the, the dry soils.
Causes of wildfires are many fold.
And I'm not sure that the the causes of these various fires have been ascertained yet.
Quite often it, you know, sometimes it is unfortunately a human factor.
But you do need the **** winds and the dry soils to to propagate them.
So the role of climate change.
And here I'm quoting verbatim from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Noah, they are the experts on California, not WMO.
So this is, to quote Noah, climate change, including increased heat, extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere have been a key driver in increasing the heat and extent of wildfires in the western United States during the last two decades.
So this is a general statement.
It's not specifically about these particular wildfires, but it is a general climate change statement.
Wildfires require the alignment of a number of factors, including temperature, humidity and the lack of moisture in fuels such as trees, shrubs, grasses and forest debris.
All these factors have a strong direct or indirect ties to climate variability.
So that's the natural variations such as El Nino, La Nina and climate change.
A 2016 study, and again we're quoting Noah, found climate change enhanced the drying of organic matter and doubled the number of large fires between 1984 and 2015 in the western United States.
We're not talking about the whole of the US And a 2021 study supported by Noah concluded that climate change has been the main driver of the increase in fire weather.
And I stress fire weather in the western US.
Obviously, a lot of other factors, Land Management build, you know, where people build their houses, the clearing forests.
But it does, you know, underline, you know, we do need effective early warning systems.
Unfortunately, there have been a number of fatalities during these fires, but there have been very, very effective early warnings, a lot of evacuations.
That doesn't diminish the, you know, the tragedy to people who've who've lost their properties.
But, you know, hopefully it has it has saved, saved lives.
And without wanting to put her in the spot, Margaret is sitting in the room.
If you need anything on them on health, health aspects of of this.
We see here we've got Christophe and then and then Gabriella.
Go ahead, Christophe in 10 days the we have a new president of the United States taking charge during the in which but so I was just wondering like it's given that is very sceptical to say the least about climate change.
You know what is your message?
I think that's probably a little bit above my pay grade.
I think these these fires, you know, we're going to be talking about the, the economic cost of these fires is going to be in, you know, multiple billion dollars.
The US has suffered a number of what they call classes billion dollar disasters in the past, in the past year.
Obviously not every single weather related disaster is due to climate change.
You know, nobody, nobody would say that.
But we do get, you know, quite clear signals that climate change is exacerbating some some some of these some of these disasters making, you know, the rainfall heavier in certain tropical cyclone systems, in certain parts, you know, increasing heat waves.
So yeah.
Thank you very much.
We have Gabriella and then we have Lisa Schlein online.
Gabriella, go ahead.
Thank you, Micheli.
I saw some videos in in Twitter showing that the fire started at the same time in three different points as if it had been an arson fire.
Then months before the owners of the houses were left without insurance and well, there were some irregularities.
Have you seen this these accusations or do you think it could be possible that Thank you.
That's obviously not for W MO to comment on that is the matter for the, you know, the local authorities to to investigate.
You know, all we can save, you know, from the National Weather Service is that, you know, the conditions for the rapid spread of fires are there.
You know, these very **** winds and the low, the low soil moisture it as we've seen in, you know, in previous examples, you know, fires can be started by dropped cigarette.
They can be to start started unfortunately deliberate deliberately.
They can be started by a car backfiring.
They can be started by by lightning.
There are a lot of different causes and that really is for the for the local authorities to, to ascertain.
So we can't comment on that.
Lisa, the floor is yours.
Thanks, Nicolae, and happy New Year to you all.
Hi, Claire.
I've got a couple of questions for you.
First of all, President-elect Donald Trump blames California Governor Gavin Newsom for the disaster, saying that it's bad management is bad management, which is the cause.
Is that a possibility?
Also, are there actions that can be taken or should be taken in anticipation of a natural disaster such as this?
Or is this something that's just impossible to to deal with because of the enormity of the catastrophe?
And then yes, indeed, your suggestion about Margaret Harris being there is wonderful.
I would very much be interested in having her take on the health impacts of the toxic fumes which are roiling around the city.
Thank you.
Sorry, Margaret.
So on the on the first question, it's not the role of WMO to get involved in internal politics within, within, within the the US.
So I don't comment on that.
In terms of what can we do, yes, prevention does, you know, is, is, is very important.
And so this comes down to, you know, Land Management, building regulations, clearing of regular clearing of underbrush, underbrush in forests so that there's, you know, less fuel for the fires, evacuation plans.
One of my colleagues who, you know, who's familiar with California said he was struck by the TV images just, you know, the number of cars which were blocking the evacuation routes.
So again, you know, that is that is a local.
That is a local issue.
But as I said, I think as WMO, our underlining message would be that, you know, once again, it does highlight the importance of early warnings.
The warnings have in this instance been, you know, been very, very good.
You know, people have been evacuated, been impossible to save to save houses, but, you know, loss of life still too ****.
But it has been kept to to a relative minimum.
Over to Margaret.
Thanks very much and thanks Lisa for the question.
It's an important one.
I mean, straight out wildfires can have significant morbidity and mortality simply because they burn you, especially if you do not get the opportunity or or do not heed evacuation orders.
But the wildfire smoke that you asked specifically about is indeed a mixture of air pollutants of which particulate matter is, is the one that is of major concern.
It can be full of PM 22.5, which is a very small particular matter than get right down into the lungs.
And there's certainly a lot of it is associated with premature death in the general population and can cause excess and exacerbate diseases of lung, heart, brain, nervous system, skin, gut, kidney, eyes, nose, and liver.
And it's also been shown to lead to cognitive impairment.
So actually damage your intellectual capacity and, and to memory loss.
And of course, firefighters and emergency response workers are greatly impacted by the the the risk of exposure to smoke and of course to injuries, burns and smoke inhalation inhalation.
Thank you, Lisa.
Is your hand still up?
Yeah, yeah, OK.
It's, it's, it's up.
It's up.
It's an old hand.
Here we go.
I mean a new one.
Claire, earlier you mentioned that this the economic impact will be enormous.
Do you have any idea about how much this this could possibly amount to?
And perhaps you too Margaret, in terms of the economic aspect of the, the health conditions and, and, and do do you and, and are illnesses which might occur from this?
Would they be of a temporary order or long lasting or I, I imagine that there are some people who have chronic illnesses that would suffer the most and perhaps this, this could be a definitely a deadly situation for them.
Thanks though on the on the first question on the economic impact, again, that's not for, for WMO.
The US has a great deal of expertise in this.
Every month, the US National Oceanic and Atmosphere Atmospheric Administration issues a chart with its monthly climate update.
And that includes a sort of a running tally of what what they call billion dollar disasters.
So this definitely will be a billion dollar disaster.
But it's, you know, it's for the US authorities to once this tragedy, you know, is, is, is over, it's still ongoing.
You know, they, they will do the assessments.
Thanks, Lisa.
And it's an important question because really what we need is more interdisciplinary research to understand the long term effects because there are indeed concerns about the latent and long term health effects of wildfire exposure on vulnerable populations, particularly particularly children, older people, pregnant people and chronically ill people.
So particularly in geographic areas that we expect will see this over and over again if we don't get what we're doing to the planet under control.
Thank you very much, Margaret and Claire, I'm going to just look quickly and see whether we have any further questions for you.
OK, So you've got.
Yeah, no, go ahead.
You've got a question and then I think possibly Maya and then go there wanting to make it an additional.
Sorry.
Sorry, Miguel.
No, I have a question on another issue.
OK, well then let's go to Maya then and.
Yes.
Thank you very much for taking my question.
Happy New Year, Claire and Margaret.
And my question is related to the question of insurance companies.
Do they work or draw on the work of the WMO in order to understand what risks there are?
Because it's probably the amount of insurance costs will be enormous now that we see more and more events like that, as you mentioned, that's perhaps not related to climate change in this particular fire in California.
But still, how do we see and how do you work and how much insurance companies come to you to access risk?
I'm not aware that we have many direct contacts with insurance companies, but obviously the, the data is, is, is publicly available so they can consult it.
We do have some links with the reinsurance groupings tends to be the, you know, the, the groupings rather than the individual companies.
But as I said, the data, the date, the data is there and you know, obviously you know, it's fire weather is becoming an increasing risk in, you know, in, in many, in many parts of the of the world.
If, if I could just briefly go from fire to ice next week, you should have received a media media advisor advisory on it.
We will be having a sort of background in depth briefing with experts about glaciers.
This year is the International Year of the Preservation of Glaciers.
It will be officially launched at WMO on the 21st of January.
But ahead of that, on the 16th, we're organising an online sort of technical briefing, you know, with, with some experts just to, you know, give journalists chance to, you know, to ask more, more more detailed questions ahead of, ahead of that to the launch, the launch itself.
We're not planning a press conference here at the, at the UN.
Just it's, it's, it's Tuesday, it's, it's a briefing day.
And you know, people coming in for the event, they've got travel constraints.
But if there are, you know, requests for interviews with, you know, any of the experts, there are the speakers, you know, contact me and I'll, I'll facilitate it.
Thank you very much Claire and indeed very interesting, very topical issue I've got.
So Christophe, I see a hand up from Catherine as well.
Christophe, go ahead.
Yes, before Margaret and Claire go away, I had a question, the **** Commissioner for Human Rights Justice who the tweet or message on X about regulation of heinous messages and saying this is not censorship.
So my question is, what's the UN?
How is the UN thinking about their presence on social networks given the decisions that have been announced last more this week by Meta, Elon Musk's behaviour?
Do you are is the UN and the different agencies?
Are you planning to change your policy on where you publish your, your messages?
Thank you.
Well, maybe I can address that briefly on behalf of the UNI think that, you know, we're constantly watching the space and evaluating it.
Up till now, our posture has been that, you know, it's important for us to be present with fact based, you know, information.
And this is what we advocate for.
You know how how this will evolve, right?
Is, is we don't know yet, but, but clearly we're seeing that there are some different actors, you know, in the, in the, you know, international corporation space that are taking different, you know, different measures terms of.
But, but for, for us at present, you know, the, the, we're still, we're still believe that it's important to to be there in those on those platforms as a, as a, you know, to present information that is, you know, that is evidence based.
But I don't know if you want to add something to.
That very much the same.
I mean our role is to provide good science based health information and we need to provide that wherever people are looking for it.
So we will.
We are being across all platforms whenever possible.
Oh, there's a question from Catherine Francon.
Fire or ice or something else?
Yes, thank you, Micheli.
2 questions, one for Claire, one for Margaret.
Claire, according the programme regarding the glaciers, it's taking place on the 16th from 1:00 PM till 3:00 PM, two hours.
Is it correct?
Yes, it's my colleague.
She's actually organising it.
It's it's a detailed technical briefing.
So it's really, you know, for journalists who want to discover and discuss, you know, this issue in, in greater detail than would normally be allowed for.
And you know, just when we sit on the podium here for for 20 minutes, half an hour.
But obviously it's, it's not the official launch.
It really is just to give you different perspectives on, you know, the the importance of glaciers, what's happening in in in in the cryosphere.
So it's probably not going to be, you know, it won't be giving you headline news, but it is more, you know, just an in depth briefing for for greater for greater understanding.
But as I said, if you've got additional questions and ask, ask Prejita on that.
You had a question for Margaret as well.
Catherine, did we?
Did we lose you?
Yes, yes, I needed to be reactivated.
So Margaret, good morning.
My question is related to the nomination of the Regional Director of WHO Afro.
We know that Doctor Faustine and Dugudile passed away, and I'd like to know what is now the mechanism.
When I asked the question to Doctor Tedros in December, he mentioned that the meeting was going to take place in December about it.
So there there has been no.
Follow up about.
That could you please give some give us some details about what's going to happen?
Thank you, Margaret.
Yes, there is a process now in place.
I'm just checking my e-mail because I got something from our legal department about the nature of the process.
It's going to happen this month.
I think next week they will begin.
I'll send you by e-mail or I can send it to everybody what exactly the process is.
Thank you.
Yes, thank you.
Not only the process, but how is it going to be?
Are the the the former candidates going to run again?
Will you allowed new candidates to be part of the the race or how is it would it be possible to to send it out as soon as possible?
If it takes place next week.
Thank you, Margaret.
I will send it out as soon as possible.
I'm I didn't have that level of detail from memory.
I'm just quickly scanning through my emails to see if I've got it easily, but I don't.
But I will send out what we have and it was only a short amount that I think that they were beginning the process to look at exactly what to do.
But I will give you the exact detail when I find.
It thank you very much, Margaret.
Any more questions for Claire or Margaret?
I we did.
We were expecting James Elder to connect from UNICEF, so just my apologies, it seems like he wasn't able to.
So perhaps and yes, if you're still online, you can just forward your, your question to him on Syria and, and he'll, I'm sure he'll respond when he has a moment.
I do not see anything further online.
Thank you very much both of you for being here.
And I've got just a couple of quick announcements to make.
So we'll start with the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which opens next Monday morning, 10 AM, so the 13th of January at Pally Wilson.
It runs until the 31st of January and it will review the reports of Slovakia, Eritrea, Honduras, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Peru, Gambia, Ecuador, and after that there will be also a meeting of the committee with member States.
In addition, but on a separate topic, I I have a note here that to say that the UN is accepting nominations for the 2025 United Nations Nelson Rolilala Mandela Prize.
There is a deadline for nominations, which is the 28th of February.
The prize is given out only every five years and acknowledges individuals who dedicate their lives to the service of humanity that promote the purposes and principles of the UN and honours Nelson Mandela's legacy of reconciliation, political transition and social transformation.
Importantly, UN staff cannot nominate or be nominated for this prize.
And just for your information to individuals who previously, there are two individuals, man and woman, from different geographic regions who will be selected by UN committee chaired by the President of the General Assembly.
Previous laureates in 2020 include Mariana Vardino Yanis, who is a Greek philanthropist and a world advocate for human rights and the protection of children, and Mori Sanda Kuyate, leading advocate from Guinea on ending violence against women and girls in Africa.
The first awardee of this prize in 2025 was Doctor Helen Andumbe of Namibia, who is an ophthalmologist whose life's work has been the treatment of blindness and eye related illnesses in our country, as well as former President of Portugal Jorge Fernando Branco Sampaio, who was a leader in a struggle for restoration of democracy in his country.
So there are some links if you're interested.
Again, Nominations deadline 28 of February 2025.
Gabriella.
Thank you.
Michele, I, I have a question.
Maybe I'm not correct, but until now I have not seen any statement from the Secretary General or the **** Commissioner for Human Rights about what is happening in in Venezuela.
Yesterday, the Maduro government imprisoned the opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
Then they liberate here and the Maduro threatens to arrest the elected president Edmundo Gonzalez the moment he arrives in Venezuela for the inauguration.
So my question is why the silence of the UN or if, if Mr Guterres going to have A to say a statement about these or the **** Commissioner both the both the Turk or someone?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Well, normally we would expect, you know, something to come in the area of the of the human rights base right on these issues.
And as far as you know, the secretary general goes, I, you know, I, I cannot tell you if and when you know, but.
But obviously it's a situation that is being watched carefully and you'll be, you'll, you'll, yeah, you know, you, you there is a, there is a, a tweet that was issued on Venezuela that, you know, this, if you look at, you know, on the chat on this, you know, in, in this meeting that's been issued by, by the the **** Commissioner.
So, you know, it's, it's, you know, it's not like there haven't been any statements, you know, but, but you know, it's a space that I think perhaps merits being watched and, and there may be something in the near future.
Thank you.
Oh, thanks very much.
Excellent.
Great timing.
Margaret is if, if so, if Catherine, if you're still connected, here's the response from Margaret.
And then I think we have a we have a question from Gorgie Online.
So, Catherine, yeah, as I I got my dates right at least the Regional Committee for Africa is going to hold a special session next week, 14 January 2025.
The provisional agenda includes the item on the process.
So it's purely, they're still going to be discussing the process for nominating the regional director for Africa.
There's a web page dedicated to the special session.
It's available on the Afro website.
So go to ww.afro.who.in T to the about US Governance governance sessions.
I can send that.
I can put that in the chat, I think.
Can I put that in the chat?
It's there.
Great.
Is that possible?
Yeah.
Yeah, you can.
You can, absolutely.
Yeah, I'll, I'll.
Just try to send the link in the.
I'll send the link.
Yeah, yeah.
So you'll send it to us and we'll, yeah, we'll, we'll add it.
See if my technology.
Thank you very much.
I see.
Katherine, you have your hand up again.
Is that a follow up?
Yes.
So if I understand well, the the process has not been decided yet, it will be decided on the 14th.
I turn myself off, sorry.
Yes, exactly.
Exactly.
So it'll be an interesting session.
Thank you very much.
Bonjour.
Used to Venezuela.
Learn briefing tweet is your.
Repeatable news on while the message Anuki some easy about the fairly tweet no member of breath.
Let's see.
DACA mercy may may on please.
Perhaps I'll say this in English because there's a, there's also a statement from the fact finding mission, you know, which I will put in the, you know, in the chat.
So, you know, you, you, you know, it's, it's so this, it's an additional link from the, from the, you know, human rights pillar of the UN in which the, the fact finding mission condemns the recent arrests ahead of the presidential inauguration.
So, and that's both in English and in Spanish.
Is there another question, Maya?
Go ahead.
Yes.
My question is regarding what would be the economic impact on this social media platforms that explicitly disseminate hate if the UN and its agencies stop the pain for advertising and posting on them because they spend millions of dollars.
It was established by the UN Human Rights Council and investigators that their herring were killed, tortured and prosecuted and this was played off on the Facebook platform that was as well established.
So when are we going to stop spending money and supporting these platforms that disseminate hate?
Well, I don't know about spending money because, you know, I don't think that I, I, I stand to be corrected, but I don't believe that there's a whole lot of spending money on social media platforms on the UN side.
You have you have a excuse me, you have a just a second.
Excuse me, excuse me, Just a second, just a second.
I haven't finished.
I'm sorry, the stuff that you spend money on that they are posting on everyday producing this content for this social media platforms that disseminate hate, they are paid, they have.
Salaries of 200,000 a year.
So I mean you are spending money on the social media platforms instead of supporting.
The news media, OK, the sorry, but I disagree with the premise of what you're saying.
We're not, you know, 1 is you said paid advertising, which is not something generally that the UN engages in.
Excuse me.
I'm just, I'm addressing your question if you let me finish.
OK, So first, paid advertising.
No.
Secondly, if you consider that, you know, having people who are paid a salary to do work on social media, you know, is paying social media platforms, that's, you know, a bit of a leap.
But you know, we have, we have, we have Excuse me if you let me finish Maya, please, you have your turn, you'll have your turn.
So you know, as we've said, our communication strategy continues to be to be engaged on these platform and to offer, you know, Aun perspective right on issues of common concern.
So that's, you know, that may change, but for the moment it's not the case.
Did you have something to add?
All right.
Thank you, Gabriella.
Sorry, Michele, I'm, I'm looking for the tweet that you mentioned that **** Commissioner of Human Rights said about Venezuela something, but I'm, I, I can't find it.
So if you can.
Really, if you did in the chat here, but you know, I'm happy to send it to you directly if you.
Want because yeah, I I don't see.
Anything in the chat in the zoom?
In the in the chat.
Yeah, OK, I will.
I will go there.
OK, thanks.
Alright.
Thanks, John.
Sir Costas, Happy New Year to you, Sir.
Good morning and happy to hear to you.
Michele, just to follow up to Mayor's observations, I was wondering if there is a, a, a UN directive to ensure that press releases sent out by UN agencies contain the statements on issues.
Because what we've seen in quite a few agencies, the press release has the facts and then you go into social media and the head of the agency has a comment on the content of the press release.
Sometimes the head of agency is not quoted in the official press release.
We get through the e-mail server for journalists.
Be nice if it's harmonised.
So what is on social media appears in the official press release.
I have to be honest, John, I'm trying to follow the argument.
So you're saying that there's a press release and then there's a statement by head of agent, by head of agency that has issued that press release that perhaps you know, and that content is not reflected in the press release.
Is that, is that correct?
And you're asking whether there's a directive on harmonising content between what appears in press releases and what appears on social media platforms.
Is that the question?
Sorry, I'm I'm just trying to understand exactly what you're at the head of agency.
The quote by the head of agency does not appear in the press release and it appears on the social media sites.
And that is the problem, right.
OK, I, I feel like maybe you have something specific in mind that, you know, telling us about there, John.
But, but I mean, I don't, I, to answer your question, there's no specific directive on this.
You know, it strikes me that it's possible that, you know, there's a, there's a press statement that is issued and subsequently there may be a comment or a, you know, statement by the head of agency and that that then appears in, in, on social media platforms.
But you know, without knowing the specifics of what you're referring to, it's very hard to, to address.
I, I don't know, do you have, is there something specific that you wanted to that that has raised this issue for you?
It's just that, that the comment on the, on the subject sometimes does not contain a quote from the head of the agency in the official press release that only appears in social media.
So a journalist has to constantly go back and forth between the official press release and the social media postings.
That's all right.
Well, you know, life is complicated sometimes, but yes, I will.
Yeah.
But, you know, we'll try to.
Did you have something to say on the matter?
My God, it's nice to raise your hand.
And.
Yeah, go ahead.
Actually, yes, I understand that some journalists are leaving Twitter as well because it's very a very toxic environment.
So people shouldn't be obliged to be constantly on the social media platforms, platforms that disseminate hate, you know, in order to gather information.
Besides, there's the question now that AI will manipulate the image and sound.
So you don't know, you have to double check to make sure that it's really vocal Turks saying something, you know.
So I think the social media strategist should be revealed in light of providing the news media with factual, trustworthy information.
Yeah, thank you.
Look, I mean, you make a good point.
And I think that, you know, the UN and our department has been working for a long time on issues of, of, of trusted media, right.
And there, there is no doubt that, you know, on, on a number of social media platforms there, there is a, there's a lot of hate speech, which we have been, you know, very vocal about.
And there's, and, and that there is a, you know, sort of toxic information environment.
You know, you, you see this across a whole range of issues, right?
So yes, I mean, it's a, it's a legitimate, you know, position to have.
And like I've said, you know, we as the UN are, are, you know, watching that and, and cognizant of that and trying to call attention to the fact that there's a lot of misinformation and that there's a lot of, you know, actual, we, we're actually victims of misinformation campaigns and disinformation campaigns, right?
They've been sustained campaigns on social media against, you know, the UN or parts of the UN.
And and so, you know, we know, we know what the issues are, right?
That said, that said, for the moment, and I cannot speak for, you know, the **** Commissioner for Human Rights, it is the position of the United Nations Secretariat that, you know, we maintain our space on, you know, number of these social media platforms, the ones that we're active on currently, because there are people who are looking for our information and for, for our voice as the UN on those platforms.
And, you know, that may change, but at the moment we're, we're maintaining this course.
If there's nothing further, I'm going to wish you a, you know, delightful, you know, rest of the day and weekend.
Thank you very much.