(New York, 2 November 2026) The United Nations has launched a first-of-its-kind insurance programme that could unlock up to US$40 million in additional funding to help reach people before they lose their homes, food or livelihoods when multiple disasters threaten at once, putting exceptional pressure on available resources. The initiative – led by the UN…
Less than a month before the UN climate conference COP31 opens in Antalya, Türkiye, representatives of three successive summit presidencies gathered to address a pressing question: How can the world restore trust in climate action when the consequences of a warming planet are already being felt? The devastation in Nepal offered a stark reminder of…
The final week of August was marked by intensifying geopolitical competition, continuing wars, humanitarian emergencies, economic uncertainty and devastating natural disasters. From the Middle East and Europe to Africa, Asia and Latin America, governments confronted a series of crises that demonstrated the increasingly interconnected nature of global security, economics, public health and climate change. The…
A single New York Times article on a disaster generated an additional $500,000 in official aid. That’s just one of the findings on the critical role a free press plays in saving lives, according to a new UN report released on Tuesday. Key points A free press is critical to saving lives, mitigating the impacts…
Whenever rain clouds gather over her village, Ntombenhle Ndlovu finds herself checking the weather forecast again and again, bracing for what might come next. When the rain finally starts, she steps outside to feel the first droplets on her skin, measuring their intensity before she can breathe a little easier. “It has become a natural…
Washington — The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved a Disaster Risk Management Development Policy Financing (DPF) with a Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option (Cat DDO) for the Government of Rwanda, aimed at building stronger systems to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to disasters, protecting both lives and livelihoods. Rwanda faces increasing vulnerability to climate-related…
A report by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), a global coalition dedicated to enhancing the resilience of infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks, has put the average annual loss of infrastructure, including buildings caused by disasters in Africa, at $12.7 billion. According to the report, of the damage, 70 per cent is…
Worldwide, an estimated 440 million people were exposed to a wildfire encroaching on their home at some point between 2002 and 2021, new research shows. That’s roughly equivalent to the entire population of the European Union, and the number has been steadily rising – up 40% over those two decades. With intense, destructive fires often…
