Hidden in and around the muddy depths of the Mekong River is a wondrous animal world.

As the living tissue of the earth, biodiversity is “intimately linked to human health” the head of the UN’s scientific agency told a global forum on Wednesday, noting that “we are part of that living tissue”.

COVID-19 confirmed cases continued to rise around the world for a fourth consecutive week, with around 3.3 million new cases reported in the past seven-day period, the UN health agency said on Wednesday.

The United Nations Secretary-General on Tuesday urged all countries, companies and financial institutions to commit to net zero or carbon neutrality, with “clear and credible” plans to achieve the target, starting immediately.

Addressing the eighth Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development, convened by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Amina Mohammed, highlighted the importance of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Rapid growth in innovations that are designed to help people overcome their disabilities could soon offer a fix to all manner of mobility, sight and other difficulties, UN patent experts WIPO said on Tuesday.

Available data shows that increased occurrence of climate-related disasters is the new normal.

The growing gap between the number of vaccines being given in rich countries and those administered through COVAX is becoming “more grotesque every day”, the head of the UN health agency said on Monday.

Notwithstanding that women make up 70 per cent of healthcare workers globally, and have been most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, they are also being “systematically excluded” from decision-making processes aimed at ending the pandemic, including government-run task forces around the world.

An estimated 1.4 million fewer people received necessary care for tuberculosis (TB) during 2020 compared with the previous year, because of COVID-19, the UN health agency said on Monday.