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PRESS BRIEFING BY THE UNITED NATIONS INFORMATION SERVICE
8 November 2022
Impact of a climate crisis on the world’s most vulnerable children
Paloma Escudero, Global Director of Communications and Advocacy at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and head of UNICEF’s delegation at COP27, speaking from Sharm el-Sheikh, stated that at COP27 she was working with youth climate activists from around the world to put spotlight on the impact of the climate crisis on the most vulnerable children. UNICEF warned that this year had brought overwhelming flooding to at least 27.7 million children in 27 countries worldwide. A large majority of the 27.7 million children affected by flooding in 2022 were among the most vulnerable and at high risk of a multitude of threats including death by drowning, disease outbreaks, lack of safe drinking water, malnutrition, disruption in learning, and violence.
In Pakistan, for example, which Ms. Escudero had visited the previous week, the worst floods in 100 years had killed at least 615 children, and left 10 million children in need of immediate, lifesaving support. The floods had contaminated drinking water, which was spawning deadly water-borne diseases such as acute watery diarrhea, which compounded already acute malnutrition. Estimates suggested that close to 1.6 million children in flood areas could be suffering from severe acute malnutrition. The stagnant water was a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes, increasing the risk of malaria and dengue. Ms. Escudero emphasized that Pakistan was drowning in the world’s inaction. Pakistan’s floods had been made worse by climate change, international climate scientists concluded. In Africa, just like in Pakistan, children were paying the price for a climate disaster not of their making, said Ms. Escudero.
From COP27, UNICEF was challenging world leaders to respond at an unprecedented scale. Governments and big business had to prevent a climate catastrophe by rapidly reducing emissions. UNICEF urged leaders to take immediate action to protect children from climate devastation by adapting the critical social services they rely on. Children also had to be prepared for the changing world by educating them on climate change, teaching them how to respond to disasters and equipping them with green skills for future jobs. Finally, the previous year, developed countries had agreed to double support for adaptation to USD 40 billion a year by 2025. At COP27, they had to present a credible roadmap with clear milestones on how this would be funded, as a step to delivering at least USD 300 billion per year for adaptation by 2030. People with power had to start acting.
More details are available here.
Responding to questions from the media, Ms. Escudero said that one had to be in Pakistan to understand the scope of the devastation; the enormity of the catastrophe in Pakistan was overwhelming. UNICEF’s delegation at COP27 had 37 youth climate activists, she specified, including Egyptian, Saheli, and Pakistani activists. Vanessa Nakate, a Ugandan activist, was also part of UNICEF’s delegation. It was hoped that more young people would be included in countries’ delegations at future COPs.
Call for release of jailed blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah in Egypt
Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), informed that High Commissioner Volker Türk today expressed deep regret that the Egyptian authorities had not yet released blogger and activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, whose life was reportedly at imminent risk after a seven-month hunger strike while in Wadi El Natrun prison.
“I urge the Egyptian Government to immediately release Abdel Fattah from prison and provide him with the necessary medical treatment,” the High Commissioner said. He also called on the Egyptian authorities to fulfil their human rights obligations and immediately release all those arbitrarily detained, including those in pre-trial detention, as well as those unfairly convicted. No one should be detained for exercising their basic human rights or defending those of others.
Full statement can be read here.
Answering to journalists’ questions, Ms. Shamdasani said that at least 151 detainees were being currently investigated by the supreme state prosecution. Back in April, following a presidential pardon, hundreds of detainees had been released, but new arrests were continuing to take place in Egypt at a fast pace, said Ms. Shamdasani. The High Commissioner had stressed the importance of civil society’s participation in COP27. It was also hoped that this event would help improve the human rights situation in the country. Alaa Abdel Fattah ought to be urgently released and provided necessary medical attention, stressed Ms. Shamdasani, informing that the High Commissioner had spoken to the Egyptian authorities on 4 November.
UN Secretary-General, who was in Egypt now, had raised the issue of human rights during an informal meeting with the Egyptian authorities, added Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service.
Deadly attacks against IDP camps in Syria
Jeremy Laurence, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that the OHCHR was gravely concerned by a series of deadly ground-based strikes and airstrikes that had stricken several camps for internally displaced persons in Idlib on 8 November, amid worrying signs of a fresh escalation of hostilities in north-western Syria.
OHCHR had verified the killing of at least seven civilians and the wounding of at least 27 others.
The upsurge in fighting and the return to violence were cause for alarm. As in previous escalations, civilians were the ones paying an unacceptable price. It was essential that all parties to the conflict strictly abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law to take constant care to spare the civilian population and civilian objects in the conduct of hostilities. OHCHR emphasised to all parties to the conflict that indiscriminate attacks were prohibited by international humanitarian law and, depending on the circumstances, may further amount to war crimes.
In a response to questions, Mr. Laurence said that there was information that IDP camps had been affected, even if not directly targeted. This could lead to a further displacement, he said. OHCHR was concerned for all civilians, including internally displaced persons, who might be caught up in this horrific situation.
Full OHCHR statement is here.
Announcements
Alessandra Vellucci, on behalf of the Human Rights Council, informed that the Universal Periodic Review Working Group would today review the reports of Tunisia and Morocco, while the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, was continuing its public hearings from 2 pm today, which would be webcast live at webtv.un.org.
David Whitbourn, for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), said that the 19th CITES COP would take place in Panama City from 14 to 25 November. One of the key discussions would be on how CITES could help stop the zoonotic transmission of diseases. New World Wildlife Trade Report would also be released at the 19th COP, informed Mr. Whitbourn. There were about one million species currently threatened by extinction, he said.
Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), informed about an embargoed media briefing at 3 pm today on the 2022 Global Vaccine Market Report. The report would be coming out on 9 November.
Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), informed that on 13 November at COP27, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) would be launching its Green Technology Book, a press release on which would be sent out on 10 November.
Finally, Ms. Vellucci informed that the Committee Against Torture was beginning this morning the review of the report of Somalia.
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As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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