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Global Forests Resources Assessment
Anssi Pekkarinen, Senior Forestry Officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said that the Global Forest Resources Assessment just launched by FAO was the most comprehensive report of that kind, covering more than 60 variables and the period from 1990 to 2020. The main message of the assessment was that the forest loss was continuing but slowing down, even if not nearly enough. The world had lost 178 million hectares of forest since 1990, which was an area about the size of Libya. There were some 4.08 billion hectares of forests globally. The loss of forests was continuing globally, with Africa being the hot spot, followed by South America. Since 1990, some 420 million hectares of forests had been lost to other uses, such as agriculture. More than 700 million hectares of forest were currently in the legally established protected areas, and globally, some 18 percent of all forests had sustainable management plans in place, informed Mr. Pekkarinen. All the data was now available, by countries, territories and variables, in an easy-to-use digital format.
Responding to a question, Mr. Pekkarinen said that the data was available in French and other languages, whereas the report was being translated. The related press release with Mr. Pekkarinen’s contact details would be shared with the media shortly.
The 2020 Global Forest Resources Assessment is available here.
COVID-19 and internal displacement in Yemen
Paul Dillon, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that COVID-19 had emerged as a new cause of internal displacement and misery for thousands of conflict-weary Yemenis. IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix reported that more than 100,000 people had been forced to flee due to fighting and insecurity since January. The situation was especially dire in places like Aden where hospitals were turning away suspected cases, and news reports had shown large numbers of graves being dug.
Displaced people in Yemen who had been the worst affected by nearly six years of conflict were now leaving virus hotspots. Some were moving from Aden and Lahj to areas within the same governorates less affected by the outbreak, while others were going to districts in Abyan, despite active fighting in other parts of that governorate. Many of those displaced as a result of the outbreak had been already living in displacement and were moving for the second, third or fourth time. While the official number of COVID-19 cases in Yemen remained low, given limited testing capacity and concerns among the local population about seeking treatment, the humanitarian community was working under the assumption that the actual numbers were much higher.
Alessandra Vellucci, for the UN Information Service (UNIS), recalled that aid agencies required 385 million USD in funding to support COVID-19 operations, including $304 million for health. As of yesterday, 20 July, the operation had received only $55 million – a mere 14 per cent of what was actually needed.
Responding to a question, Mr. Dillon said that nearly half of the health infrastructure in the country had been destroyed as a result of the long-lasting hostilities.
Full press release, including B-roll and photos, is available here.
Other announcements
Fernando Puchol, for the World Trade Organization (WTO), informed that on 22 and 23 July there would be a session of the General Council, the last one under Roberto Azevedo as the WTO Director-General. The previous week, the eight candidates for next DG had made their presentations to the Council and addressed the media. This week the Council would also decide, by consensus, which of the current Deputies Director-General would become the acting DG once Mr. Azevedo left on 31 August. The Council would also discuss the request of Turkmenistan to receive an observer status.
On 22 July, the WTO spokesperson Keith Rockwell would brief the media in Room B at the WTO, and on 23 July, Roberto Azevedo would give a press conference at the WTO at 1 p.m.; details on the logistics of both conferences would be sent out to the media shortly.
Tarik Jašarević, for the World Health Organization (WHO), informed that today at 3 p.m. there would be a webinar on the “infodemics” conference. The webinar would discuss the results of the closed sessions of the conference, which had taken place over the past two and a half weeks. The webinar was open to everyone, who could ask questions in the chat format. There was huge interest in the topic, which was why the webinar would be open to the general public. If there was media interest in the topic, a separate press briefing could possibly be organized. The use of any medical products in any country was authorized by national health regulatory agencies which regulated their use, said Mr. Jašarević in a response to a question; WHO hoped that any potential treatment would go through a rigorous process. Mr. Jašarević also said that the regular WHO press conferences should, in general, now be taking place on Mondays and Thursdays.
Alessandra Vellucci, for the UN Information Service (UNIS), informed that the Human Rights Committee was still holding its 129th session online, which could be followed live at UN WebTV. The session would end on 24 July in the afternoon.
Ms. Vellucci also informed that UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen would address the Security Council on 23 July, the first part of which would be webcast at UN Web TV.
Ms. Vellucci said that the next Ciné-ONU, organized jointly by UN Brussels, Vienna and Geneva, would take place with an online screening of “Wake up on Mars”, to be followed by a panel discussion on 22 July at 5 p.m.
Finally, Ms. Vellucci said that a virtual exhibition on UN@75, "75 Years, 75 Documents" prepared by the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, could be accessed now. The exhibition highlighted key documents that had shaped international relations and featured UN accomplishments and action on recent global issues such as climate change, gender equality, migration, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The exhibition could also be accessed through the UN75 website: https://www.un.org/un75
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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
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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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