Lisbon, 27 June 2022 – Movie star and ocean activist Jason Momoa was designated the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Advocate for Life Below Water today at a major conference mobilizing global support for an ocean besieged by the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and rampant pollution.

Leadership on tackling plastic pollution got a boost at the UN Ocean Conference when twenty-one new governments announced they will join the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment.

The FAO project ‘Strengthening Agricultural Adaptation’ (SAGA) funded by the Government of Quebec and implemented by a range of partners on the ground, is having a big impact across Senegal.

Sargassum seaweed has blighted many of the beaches on Barbados for several years.

The monkeypox outbreak does not currently constitute a global public health concern, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday, though “intense response efforts” are needed to control further spread.

The United Nations has underlined its support for the men and women working at sea, whose immeasurable contributions help to keep global trade moving.

Since the 1980s, a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) convention has been in place, dealing with pollution issues affecting the wider Caribbean region.

Emergency lifesaving aid relief continued to flow into quake-hit eastern Afghanistan on Friday, as UN humanitarians and partners rushed to help the most vulnerable communities.

Addressing the first meeting of the World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee on Thursday over the global Monkeypox outbreak, the WHO chief told members that person-to-person transmission was ongoing, and “likely underestimated”.

The UN agency stressed that the number of desperately hungry children suffering from severe wasting has continued to grow.