Source: United Nations (video statements)
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
-Secretary-General/Travel
-Occupied Palestinian Territory
-Yemen
-Passing of the Former Prime Minister of Portugal
-Security Council/Syria
-Ukraine
-Tropical Storm Melissa/Haiti
-Central African Republic
-Senior Personnel Appointment – Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs
-Methane Report
-Guests Today/Tomorrow
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In Geneva today, the Secretary-General attended the annual conference of the World Meteorological Organization, which is marking its 75th anniversary. In his remarks, the Secretary-General saluted the work of the WMO, especially its rigorous modelling and forecasting. Without it, he said, we would not know what lies ahead or how to prepare for it.
The Secretary-General underscored the need to accelerate solutions for how communities can adapt to the rapidly evolving climate crisis. He focused on the Early Warning for All Initiative that he launched in 2022 and outlined three areas for urgent action.
First, he said that governments must embed early-warning systems across their policies, institutions and budgets. Second, Mr. Guterres said, reaching every community with an early warning system requires a surge of financing. Last, we need to address the problem of climate disasters at their source: a rapidly heating planet.
The Secretary-General said that countries must deliver bold new national climate action plans that align with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
In taking the floor after remarks by regional representatives, the Secretary-General said that it is clear that we will not be able to contain the rise in global warming below 1.5 degrees in the next few years. An overshoot is now inevitable, although he added that that doesn’t mean that we are condemned to live with 1.5 degrees rise. With the right policies, backed by science, it will be possible for temperatures to go down again, he said.
The Secretary-General later addressed the 16th conference of UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD). He said that in the new world in which we live, some things remain the same, as developing countries continue to be short-changed.
Notably, he added, trade barriers are rising, with some least developed countries facing extortionate tariffs of 40 per cent, despite representing barely one per cent of global trade flows. Protectionism might be inevitable in some situations but at least it should be rational, Mr. Guterres added.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The Secretary-General was asked in Geneva today about the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice concerning Israel’s responsibilities in the occupied Palestinian territory. He said that this is a very important decision and that he hopes that Israel will abide by it. He added that the decision comes at a moment in which we are doing everything we can to boost our humanitarian aid in Gaza, and so the advisory opinion is decisive in order for us to deal with the tragic situation in which the people of Gaza still live.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that, since the ceasefire entered into effect more than 10 days ago, the UN and its partners have made progress in scaling up our response efforts, especially in central and southern areas of the Strip. The continued closure of the Zikim and Erez crossings, which provide direct access to the north, makes it extremely challenging for the UN and partners to reach people there with vital support at the scale needed.
UN partners monitoring population flows across Gaza report that people continue to move towards areas that were off-limits before the ceasefire. More than 425,000 movements have been reported from southern to northern parts of the Strip since 10 October.
Yesterday, in North Gaza, UN partners visited a displacement site in Jabaliya and two schools where displaced people are sheltering in Beit Lahiya. Humanitarian workers had been unable to reach these areas prior to the ceasefire due to military operations. The more than 200 families sheltering at these sites urgently need food, water, latrines, bedding kits and hygiene items – and we and our partners are doing everything possible to scale up assistance.
Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that although the needs are immense, we will not be overwhelmed by the task ahead to rebuild and rehabilitate Gaza’s health system.
Yesterday, the UN teams were able to monitor goods coming through Kissufim crossing under the UN 2720 Mechanism. This was made possible after the Israeli authorities facilitated access to our teams, as we mentioned earlier this week.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-10-22