Thank you for staying with us.
Let's continue with the regular briefing.
Sorry, I'll just change a little bit the order of the speakers because I know that our colleague from WFP has a hard exit.
So we'll start with Gaza first.
And to talk about Gaza, we have the pleasure to host Mr Ross Smith, who is the WFP Director of Emergencies, and Jean Martin Boer, the WFP Director of Food Security and Nutritional Analysis.
Both of them are connecting from Rome.
And Sophia Caltropodet, I don't need to introduce you, the director of the Even Women Office in Geneva, who's with me on the podium.
So we will hear from them about the situation in Gaza.
I'd like to call your attention two things.
First of all, the Secretary General statements that we have distributed to you from yesterday's presentation briefing that he did at the International Conference on the implementation of the two state solutions.
We've sent you both speeches.
Of course, I have a few other updates if asked, but I think what the Secretary General said yesterday, together with Tom Fletcher, the Emergency Relief coordinator, are extremely important to look at.
And our colleague of the World Food Programme have also distributed to you by e-mail the Gaza IPC alert, which has been published this morning at 10 AM room time.
So we will now hear from our colleague, I think Jean Martin, you go 1st and then we will go to Ross and Sophia.
1/2 hour ago, the Integrated Face Classification Global Support Unit published an alert on Gaza.
The last time there was a report on Gaza by the IPC was in May of this year.
At the time it identified a risk of famine, A projected risk of famine in Gaza.
About a half million people were classified in IPC phase five, which is the most acute in the in the classification.
This alert is being published today because the situation has gotten a loss worse, a lot worse in the intervening months.
What we've seen is a deterioration of food security and nutrition indicators.
Food consumption indicators are the worst they've been since the start of the conflict in Gaza and they've now gone beyond famine thresholds in in most of Gaza.
In the case of malnutrition indicators, they have exceeded famine thresholds.
In the case of Gaza City, this is quite significant and it's the first time we've seen this in Gaza.
Now, the these are two of the three indicators the IPC uses to to monitor famine.
We know that food consumption, malnutrition and mortality are the indicators that are used for famine classification.
What this alert says is that we're getting closer and closer to this famine and that, of course, immediate action is needed now to to avert massive human suffering.
Before I do that, I'll pass it on to my colleague Ross Ross.
Thank you very much and thanks, Jean Martin for for the introduction.
I mean, let me let me just say as Jean Martin left off, I mean, I think what we're calling for is, is immediate action on Gaza.
We welcome these humanitarian pauses that were started on Sunday, but we are not yet getting the volumes of humanitarian assistance in that are needed despite the assurances that we can do so.
So this includes not just food assistance from AWFP perspective, but nutrition support, health, medical, water, wash, etcetera, all of the things that are needed to alleviate the the really desperate levels that we are seeing both from this IPC alert but also on our television screens every day.
We need to see much faster facilitation of our work inside Gaza.
We've had these commitments before and what we're lacking is follow through on the ground.
It means faster clearances and approvals for trucks.
It means soldiers are not present near humanitarian relief convoys or distribution points.
And of course, no shooting at crowds that are queuing for food or queuing for other supplies.
We would need significant surge of humanitarian supplies to alleviate the suffering right now.
We cannot simply be symbolic measures that that may look good or or make make for good press, but we need sustained effort at scale for weeks at a time.
This is food, as I said, food aid, medicine, water, specialised nutrition products and others.
People that are suffering from malnutrition, acute malnutrition need more than just food.
They need the proper food basket.
They need medical supplies.
We are also requesting to restart bakeries and community kitchens so that we can stabilise the situation and have basic staple foods available for people.
So I'll, I'll stop here and happy to answer any questions on both operations and, and the, the alert that's just come out.
Thanks to both colleagues, Sophia on the situation of women.
So again, let me thank you for this opportunity to to highlight the horrific situation of women and girls in Gaza 1,000,000 Women and girls in Gaza are facing ************ violence and abuse.
Malnutrition is soaring and essential services have long since collapsed, forcing women and girls to adopt increasingly dangerous survival strategies.
In Gaza, women and girls are facing the impossible choice of starving to death at the shelters or venturing out in search of food or water at extreme risk of being killed.
The children are starving to death before their eyes.
This is horrific, unconscionable and unacceptable.
It is simply inhumane and this suffering must end immediately.
We need unhindered human turn access at scale and we need a permanent ceasefire leading to sustainable peace.
Women LED organisations inside Gaza describe how women and women are boiling discarded food scraps to feed the children and risking being killed when searching for food and water.
They have run out of basic supplies which are critical to preserving their health, safety and basic dignity.
Women and children have borne the brunt of this war for far too long.
More than 28,000 women and girls have been killed, most of them mothers, leaving children and elderly behind with no protection or caretakers.
Women are enduring pregnancies without food and high risk delivery, liveries without water or any medical care.
As UN Women, we join the call of the rest of the UN and humanitarian organisations to put an end to this horror.
We reiterate our demand for unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance for all women and girls, the release of all hostages and an immediate ceasefire leading to sustainable peace.
We also echo the hopes that this week's High level international conference for the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine is a turning point leading to a viable 2 state solution with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security.
Thank you very much and happy to take any questions related to the situation for women and girls in Gaza.
Thanks to Ross and Jean Martin.
I'll open the floor to questions now.
Let's start with Christian.
You are talking in sort of technical terms about thresholds to famine and that they have been passed.
Can you be as clear as possible to the ordinary listener, is there a famine in Gaza or not?
And what needs to happen for you to declare a famine?
Thank you, Ross Shamerta.
I can't see who wants to answer.
I don't know who wants to take this.
But also if the other one wants to take it, just raise your electronic hand.
Should I start with Shamerta here?
This is this is exactly why we're here today.
What the what we're seeing is mounting evidence that a famine is there.
All the signals are there now with this alert published today, does not do is is formally declare a famine.
That's something that only happens after additional analysis.
That's something that might happen in the future.
But what we are telling you now is that the indicators we're seeing in Gaza have exceeded the famine threshold for food consumption and for malnutrition.
And what we're telling you once again is that action needs to take place now.
We shouldn't wait for a hypothetical famine declaration to do everything we possibly can to prevent the suffering.
And again, Ross, if you, if you want, just show your hand.
So let me go to Robin, our correspondent of AFP.
I've got 2 questions for WFP.
Firstly, if you had better access to the Gaza Strip to do the analysis that you need to do, is it possible that the the situation that you're able to document might actually be worse than what you've managed to gather?
And and secondly, a lot of people in the general public might, might read this as a warning.
But is it right to say that when you say a famine is unfolding, that shouldn't necessarily be read as a warning.
It's more that a disaster has already happened?
I mean, indeed, I don't, I would say that if we had better access both for operations and for assessments, you know that things don't get much worse than famine.
So, so I think we definitely we could we'll definitely be confirming that once we're able to get more assessment data as John Martinez outlined some of the technical process there.
But you know what, what we need is, is this sustained access for extended period of time to be able to reach people where they are.
Other questions in the room, you have a follow up.
And then and then just on the on the second question about whether this should be read by the by the general public more as a warning or more that a disaster has already happened.
I mean, it's clearly a disaster is unfolding in front of our eyes, in front of our television screens.
This is a call to action.
This is unlike anything we have seen in this century.
It reminds us of of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra in the past century.
And it's clear that we need urgent action now.
So this is definitely not a warning.
This is a call to action Very clear.
Other question in the room or I'll go to the platform.
OK, so let's start with the Satoko sorry with Gabriella Sotomayor from Proceso Mexico.
Yes, thank you very much for the question.
And you, you are saying that OK, the, the disaster is already big there no, the famine girls and and and and children.
But what is the responsibility of the state of Hamas of providing food to their citizens?
Who would like to answer on this?
I mean, I, I think it's quite clear under international humanitarian law that the state of Israel does have a duty to provide both protection to civilians and support to the population of all citizens inside Israel.
And so, I mean, Hamas is, is one of the parties to the conflict at the moment.
But I think under the, and you know, I'm not an international humanitarian law expert, but others have weighed in from the UN and you've heard that I think quite clearly in, in other press briefings.
So that's, you know, I think that is our position and currently at the moment the only way to provide support in inside Gaza is with humanitarian assistance where markets are not functioning at all and people are not able to provide for themselves.
Yes, yes, I understand that.
But Israel as a as a the power in there, the the the occupancy, whatever.
So the one that is yes, sorry for my English right now, but I understand that.
But the, the main, the government of Pal of Palestine is, is, is the leaders are Hamas.
So they must have also a, a responsibility there.
And I, I understand that humanitarians are the only one that can help right now.
But do you have any relation with Hamas?
What, what do they think about their population?
Do they feel bad because they are dying, starving?
I can, I can respond to that.
I mean, I, I think what we're here today to present is, is this IPC alert on the state of the situation inside Gaza.
And we know that as I've said before, it's not a warning.
It is is an active, active and significant humanitarian catastrophe.
We need all actors to come together to support this humanitarian action, including actors on the ground to be able to allow us to, to have humanitarian access to reach people where they are.
I won't comment on the views of Hamas, of course, I wouldn't know those.
And but our our interest is, is actually reaching the people, the civilians, the vulnerable families in need, the women and children that are are clearly, clearly suffering right now.
Thank you very much for doing this.
You talk about the humanitarian aid that was started on Sunday.
Does that include fuel delivery into Gaza?
Yeah, indeed I think we are, we are calling for both you know, food and non food humanitarian relief supplies as well as fuel for both operations for the restart of bakeries, kitchens, hospitals etcetera.
So, so it does include that and, and, and, and certainly as I said, we, we have not gotten the authorization, the permission to move in at the volumes that we've requested.
Just just to compliment this.
I understand that OCHA has recently, that was yesterday reports that modest quantities of fuel entered Gaza last week.
And of obviously, as Ross said, fuel must be allowed in consistently and at the volume needed to keep aid operation running, including operating the tracks to collect and distribute the cargo.
So Taco, your, your hand is still up.
Hi, thanks for taking my question.
We heard President Trump say yesterday in Scotland that the US was going to set up food distribution centres in Gaza.
Have you had any, any information about what that might be and, or have they been in touch with, with you or are you able to say to, to the US?
Actually the UN is there.
Yeah, I mean, I mean, we're, we're aware of these, these comments and of course we're, we're talking to, to, to, to all parties involved.
But as you, as you've indicated, I, I think our view is that we, we definitely have the capacity and the expertise and then of course the, the proven experience during the past ceasefire to reach people as needed in, in Gaza.
We just need to be able to, to be allowed to work and to be able to reach people where they are.
During the last ceasefire, we were WP alone was bringing in more than 200 trucks per day operating in more than 400 distribution sites.
And you know, we, we, we know that we need a broad coverage, we need to reach people where they are because many people are trapped in different locations.
There are many vulnerabilities where they can't move.
We need to restart bakeries and kitchens so they can have access to, to these sort of regular meals, as well as other nutrition support and other support.
We just need to be able to allow to work and we need to go beyond on the rhetoric beyond the rhetoric and beyond the words and to see sustained action on the ground and that's what we can calling for at this time.
Just my first question is this alert that we've heard today from the IPC.
What what is it actually going to change materially?
I I can hear you are extremely concerned, but I mean, is your hope that this is going to put immediate action on governments to to actually respond to your calls?
Because I'm conscious this is, you know, this crisis has been unfolding for months and and we have heard very similar and start warnings from from all agencies both here on the on the call and beyond.
I also have a question for the World Food Programme, but also other.
Agencies, if they make, could you just outline what you have actually been able to get in since Sunday?
I understand yesterday that the welfare programme got about 60 trucks in, which is short of the 100 truck target.
Is it, are we seeing the same picture today And why are you not able to get as many trucks in as you would like?
Thank you, Ross or Jean Martin.
Yeah, let's take the the first one I can happy to talk with a second.
Look, these alerts are are vital.
This is the system that's used to ascertain what the situation is like on the ground.
For a very long time, the IPC alerts and the IPC analysis that we've had, I've expressed a very high level of concern about the food security and the nutrition situation in Gaza.
This is not the first time that we've expressed our concern.
The last alert was about a, a risk of famine in, in, in all parts of Gaza.
About a year ago, there was also a a, a statement about how bad the situation had gotten.
We're here today to tell you that the indicators have reached a level that we haven't seen yet, that we haven't seen before, and that this is meant to catalyse action.
What we're hoping to do is keep Gaza on the agenda to ensure that there is evidence for the advocacy that is taking place in humanitarian circles and ensure that the Gazans receive the the support that they that they require.
It's important to to bring evidence and to add to what Ross was explaining earlier.
The data that we have on Gaza shows that when there is access that when the trucks do come in that when the the humanitarians are able to carry out distributions, these food security indicators improve dramatically.
And what we need is a chance to to be able to do the work that that were mandated to do.
Perhaps over to Ross for the second part of the question.
Thanks Olivia for the question.
Just to just to say we're we're getting about approximately 50% of what we're requesting into Gaza since these humanitarian pauses started on Sunday.
And I outlined earlier some of the the challenges we continue to experience.
Just a couple more questions in, in terms of getting stuff into the Gaza Strip since this this change happened on Sunday, what what has actually changed in terms of permissions and restrictions and, and that sort of thing?
And secondly on on air drops, some countries have been performing air drops of aid over the Gaza Strip.
Can you speak about how useful they are compared to getting the full sort of humanitarian convoys that you're used to getting in?
Yeah, on the airdrops, I don't know if you want to say something or I have a, an answer for that.
Maybe I'll start with that, then I'll give you the floor.
What we can see is that of course, we have seen that airdrops have resumed yesterday, sorry, 2 days ago in Gaza.
While the UN welcome all efforts to provide aid to people who desperately need it, UN agencies and partners reminds that airdrops are the last resort measure and carry risk for people on the ground.
Injuries were reported 2 days ago when packages fell on 10th.
That is what I had on the air drops.
But maybe Ross and Jean Martin have got more.
The first question just to just to emphasise what you you indicated on, on air drops.
I mean, certainly we have extensive experience in, in other operational context on air drops and it really is a last resort where there are no other logistics of transport options in addition to being, you know, far too expensive and inefficient.
It just is not a practical solution in this context.
It carries extreme risk for populations that are, you know, in, in a very dense population base in, in different parts of Gaza and, and we've seen some of those reports of injuries already.
So while I appreciate the symbolic nature of it, it is not a practical solution and we do have that practical solution waiting ready at the borders of Gaza, the check at the crossing points and ready to move.
Your first question on, on what has changed, I mean, I think we we appreciate the and we welcome these humanitarian pauses and we would like to see the full spirit of them implemented all along right down to the distribution points so that we can move quickly and effectively until those different delays and approvals clearances the the interaction with armed forces and civilians on the ground.
Until that is improved, we're not going to see that sufficient enough change to turn the dial on the humanitarian situation in San Kaosa.
I have two follow-ups from Gabriella and Olivia and then we will go to the next item.
So just to clarify, I would like to know how many convoys are needed daily to ensure that Palestinians have food and drinking water on a sustained basis.
So this is not like a handout.
So a week of humanitarian aid won't resolve the situation.
So to prevent children from dying from hunger, women, what do you need every day in a sustained way, Ross.
I mean let me just say the 11 key figure that is important is you know in pre conflict we had at least 500 trucks a day moving into Gaza commercial supplies and this is what was required to sustain the population, the needs of the population inside Gaza.
So we are asking for right now for WFP alone for 100 trucks per day and that is a very bare minimum of food and nutrition support.
But other agencies also have additional requirements on top of that.
During the previous during the ceasefire earlier this year, we had more than 200 trucks a day alone of WFP supplies and up to 400 day per day including all partners.
So that's really the what we're looking at, the volume that we're looking at in order to be able to, to meet the needs of, of people on the ground.
And, and so if we're at 50% of of 100 trucks a day now we're far, far away from where we need to be.
Thank you so much for coming back to me and I do really appreciate the the grandeur detail you're able to give us.
I did just want to double check you gave that very helpful detail, Ross, that only about 50% of what you're requesting is getting into Gaza since the humanitarian pauses started on Sunday.
That's kind of Part 1 of the question.
And then I just wanted to check in with you in terms of if, if levels do stay like this and you're only able to get about half in of what you're you're you're hoping for, What does that mean in real terms for for trying to tackle now what is, you know, famine like conditions?
Does this mean that your plans to reopen bakeries and provide hot meals for people via community kitchens, which I know you've said is vital, does that mean those plans might not be able to go ahead this week given that you're only getting half of the amount in?
Yeah, thanks for the follow up, Olivia.
I mean, we're not going to be able to address the, the needs of the population or the severity of the situation unless we can, we can, unless we can move in the volume that we need of humanitarian supplies.
I, I think it's a very simple equation.
And so if we're only able to move in half of that or some, some, we're not meeting what's required.
The metric of success here is not the number of trucks.
The metrics of success is are we able to alleviate the situation on the ground?
Are we able to turn the dial on the state of severe acute malnutrition?
Are we able to provide the the right the food basket and then to meet the needs of vulnerable households there?
My colleague at the podium there talking about the needs of women and children, you know, are we able to address the situation?
That's the metric of success and it's not the number of trucks, although that is an an important part of the process.
Olivia Gorky has been patiently waiting.
So if you don't mind that, give Gorky the floor first.
Gorky was available if if you unmute Mexico to Alessandra in brief premier cicera Alessandra for our new year Oscar.
Can you hear me right now?
My question is, is there any needs for the United Nations to withdraw a country which is rich the top of the top of and humanity.
No, the membership you had another follow up and then we'll go to the next speaker.
I do apologise for my third question.
I just did want to clarify the, the, the question on whether community kitchens and bakeries can still open as planned or whether that might be delayed given the the lack of aid getting in.
We don't yet have sufficient stocks nor permission to open those bakeries and kitchens and we are asking for that.
Merci Boku, thank you very much.
So I'd like to do you want to add anything, Sophia, before we close the subject, your mic?
Now just to, to say that we are, we are working closely with, with partners as, as the WFP to, to address the specific needs of, of women and girls and, and to reiterate that they are bearing the brunt of the conflict and, and the food crisis.
So, so everything we can do jointly to to address and alleviate their suffering is of course, of extreme urgency.
Thank you, Alexander, thank you, Sophia, and thanks to Ross and to Jean Martin to brief for the briefing to the Geneva press corps and hopefully you can come back and, and, and update us on the situation in the next days.
Thanks and thanks, Sophia.
Let me now go with you net to the next item on on our list.
I'd like to welcome Judy, Matthew Philip, who is the Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution and Head of the Secretariat.
Judy's coming to us from Nairobi and I'd like to welcome her and thank her for her patience because we had unfortunately to change the agenda and she's here to tell us about the intergovernmental Negotiating Committee process and structures, you know, the committee's meeting in Geneva from the 5th of August for two weeks.
And so Jyoti is going to give you a little bit more information on this very important meeting that we are very happy to host at the Palais.
Jyoti, you have the floor.
Good afternoon from Nairobi, everyone.
And of course, for those joining us from other parts of the world.
Good morning and good evening.
Today I wish to provide you with background on the Inc process, highlight a few key milestones and then outline the structure of the second part of the fifth session, Inc 5.2 for short, which will be held Tuesday from Tuesday 5th of August through Thursday 14, 10th of August at the Palais des Nacion.
As Alessandra just said, we are at this moment because in 2022, at the UN Environment Assembly, Member States adopted a resolution called 514, which convened the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.
The resolutions mandate calls for a comprehensive approach that addresses the life cycle of plastic, including its production, design and disposal.
Pursuant to the resolution, the Inc began its work in 2022 and it has been a very busy time since then.
Five negotiation sessions have already taken place.
The first, IN C1, took place in Uruguay in November 2022.
Two more followed in 2023 in France and Kenya.
In April 2024 we convened again in Canada and most recently Inc 5.1.
The first part of the fifth session was held in Busan, Republic of Korea at the end of last year.
At the end of Inc 5.1, the Committee adjourned and agreed to resume for a second session for the second part, Inc 5.2 now before us, under the leadership of the Chair of the Committee, Ambassador Luis Valles Valdeviezo of Ecuador.
Before adjourning, the Committee also agreed that the Chairs text which was released on 1st of December and available on the Inc website would serve as the starting point for negotiations in the lead up to Inc 5.2.
The Chair of the Inc has convened informal, in person and online Heads of Delegation meetings which provided important opportunities for members to engage ahead of the resumed session.
Also, the Inc Secretariat facilitated opportunity for the members to conduct informal discussions to advance consultations with a series of regional consultations held in June and July across all UN regions.
The last of these consultations will be by the Group of Eastern European States on 3rd of August in Geneva.
We are all aware of the severity of the plastic pollution crisis.
In 2024 alone, humanity was projected to consume over 500 million tonnes of plastic in 2024 alone.
Of this, 399 million tonnes will become waste plastic.
Leakage into the environment is predicted to grow 50% by 2040.
The cost of damages from plastic pollution could rise as high as a cumulative 281 trillion U.S.
And health risks from plastic pollution are becoming clearer, especially due to microplastics.
It is easy to do the math.
We are facing an environmental crisis and urgent action is needed now with a treaty fit for purpose matching the scale of the problem.
And this is not just an environmental crisis, it is a crisis for communities, economies and future generations and it expands across multiple sectors.
As we look ahead to Inc 5.2, this is a member LED process with the committee consisting of all UN members plus members of UN specialised agencies that delegations will convene on Tuesday 5th August alongside participants from accredited observer organisations for the opening plenary at 10 AM in the Assembly Hall chaired by the Chair of the Committee.
Meanwhile, the work will have already begun at the Palais before Tuesday the 5th.
Regional consultations will take place on Monday the 4th as well an in person conversation with observers where I will join the UN Environment Programme Executive Director Miss Inger Anderson and the Inc Ambassador Inc Chair Ambassador Luis Fias Valdeviezo.
This conversation with representatives from Observer organisations will be recorded and available on the Inc website soon after your viewing.
In addition, the sessions host country Switzerland will hold a multi stakeholder forum on Tuesday in the afternoon, on Monday, in the afternoon on the same venue on 4th of August.
We are expecting our highest level of participation at this resumed session with approved registrations from over 1400 delegates.
Representing 179 members of the committee and more than 1900 participants from 1600 / 1600.
Sorry 600 observer organisations including Ng, OS, Igos and UN entities.
The expectation for this Inc 5.2 is to conclude negotiations and approve the text of the instrument.
If you have not done so already, I encourage you to review the Chairs Inc 5.2 scenario note on the website which outlines the organisation of work, procedural arrangements and approach for the Committee to optimise the precious 10 days available for finalising and approving the text of the instrument.
The negotiation work of the Committee will take place in closed contact groups throughout the week alongside the regular plenary sessions which is the Committee's Reg, a formal decision making body.
All plenary sessions will be live streamed on UN Web TV and the sessions live daily schedule will be available on the Inc website and through an app.
Most importantly, a key document that should be on your radar if it isn't already, is the chairs text.
As mentioned earlier, this text is a 22 page document with 32 draught articles that provides a structure for shaping the future instrument and will serve as a starting point for negotiations at this session.
It builds on all the work that took place over the previous sessions of the Inc with the understanding that as the negotiations continue, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.
I would like to end by saying when the ink is dry and the gavel goes down, the work will only have just begun.
Words need to be turned into action and we will all need to turn our attention to the treaties implementation.
Thank you for your time and please send any follow up questions to the UNEP News desk via the Inc website.
I turn back to you Miss Bellucci.
Thank you very much, Mrs Matter Philip, for this briefing.
It was important to give this information to the journalist today because as people here know, Friday there is an official holiday in Switzerland.
And that's why I thank you very much for being with us today.
And as you said, please ask any other question either through the website indicated by Mrs Matthew Philip or through Eunice.
We are in constant contact with the communication lead of the Secretariat.
And of course, as you have also heard, there will be a lot of people at the Paladinacion during these two weeks.
Journalists, of course, are also welcome, but there are, there will be a number of details on the logistics of your participation, so don't hesitate to ask us.
So I'll open the floor to questions now.
First in the room, Christian.
Christian Erich is our correspondent of the German news agency.
I, I reached out yesterday to the media e-mail address, but I did not get an answer.
So I wonder whether it's not live yet.
And could you please share the notes?
This is the Lesage line question that I would like to deposit here.
Can you please share the notes that you read from?
And we will help you with sharing the notes to the journalist in Geneva if needed.
We will have a media advisory also out this week and of course all the notes will be shared.
Well, the notes, if it's possible, I'm saying this for your colleague Joyce, Jody, if the notes could go out as soon as possible so that the journalist have it today after your briefing and then when the media advisory come, of course, that will also be much welcome.
Is there any other question for you now?
I don't see any, but I'm sure there will be many when the conference will start.
But before we leave the issue of plastic, we also have an an announcement from Katrina Wissu for Anktad on the publication of a plastic pollution report.
Right, Thank you, Alessandra.
My, my briefing will be in French.
My notes will be shared in English.
So the economy develop more to the plastic have all overtured the negotiation that presented like you said, the public in the in the Azure the commerce model global trade updates specific more commerce de plastic plastic.
Don't let the economy on development politics commercial permit recipe the novel to transform, for example.
Or substitute plastic, for example, respectively.
The durability of the discipline.
Message sample A third party resolution problem.
Global Trade update, it is on the LaSalle mediaqueriesemailaddressforthenegotiatingcommitteeisunep-inplastic.media@un.org.
We will send it to you where there will be also the indication in the media advisory.
And now we thank you very much, Kathleen.
We come to our last but definitely not least speaker was Claire.
A new list for WMO and I'll ask Rolando to replace me on the podium as I have to rush to another meeting.
You're also, of course, speaking about weather and climate extremes.
It's not plastic, but it sort of, it all relates to it.
So I'll, I'll give you the floor and let Rolando take my place on the podium.
Yes, it all relates to to the environment and our wonderful planet.
Just to say, the World Meteorological Organisation will announce a new world record for the longest lightning flash.
We will do this on Thursday, the 31st of July.
We've sent out the embargoed press release.
It is available in all languages.
So if you do need it in one of the other languages and you haven't received it, please just let me know the new world.
And in addition, if you need embargoed interviews, please contact me.
And we, we only received it after we sent out the press release, but we just received some really, really great visuals from one of the experts who was involved in establishing this new world record.
It's got satellite imagery and, and other really good visual content.
So again, please, if you need that, just send me a quick e-mail and I will send it to you.
The world record which we will be announcing.
It was established by a team of experts from the WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes.
This maintains official records of of world, hemispheric and regional extremes on things like temperature, pressure, rainfall, hail, wind and lightning, as well as tropical cyclones.
Of all the things that we do at WMO, I'd probably can get the most questions on weather and climate extremes and on world records.
So we do but expect, you know, that this new announcement will see quite a lot of media interest on on Thursday.
As we know from, you know, from here, from looking out of our windows, lightning is a source of wonder, but it's also a major, major hazard which claims many lives around the world.
So the new findings and one of the reasons that we are that we do track, you know, lightning extremes is to highlight important public safety concerns about electrified clouds, which can produce flashes, which travel incredible, incredible distances and have a big impact on public safety, the aviation sector.
And as we unfortunately see too often, they can spark spark wildfires.
As I said, if you need, we're not having a press conference because the our main rapporteur, he's actually based at the University of Arizona.
But as I said, I'm more than happy to to set up interviews for you.
Hello and thanks again very much for that very comprehensive brief.
We do have a question for you from Antonio of FA.
Antonio, Thank you, Rolando.
I read the press release.
It's an amazing record, but I wonder if the ray touched the land and if it did have an effect on on the land if it touched it.
If not, I wonder this extremely long race are more powerful and can be more dangerous than the normal race.
I mean, this is all sort of embargo, so I don't want to say too much in case of breaking breaking the the the embargo.
Let me I'll Antonio, I'll I'll deal with it with you off offline.
I'd rather I'd rather that and I can I can set up a quick call, you know, with the with with without with our expert.
I mean, when we issue, you know, new records for, for instance, heat extremes, this is quite often, you know, the case that there is actually a new record been set because it's, you know, it's, it's got warmer.
In the case of lightning, it's not necessarily because we are seeing longer lightning flashes than in the past.
It's because, you know, satellite imagery is allowing them as to to to see them and to measure them much, much better.
But if your other questions are, I can deal, you know, I can answer them offline.
Thank you very much, Claire.
I'm certainly interested in this report coming out Thursday.
So thanks very much for the heads up.
I think that does it for questions, unless there's a last look in the room online, nothing here.
So thanks once against Claire, Claire, and good luck with that launch this coming Thursday.
I have the easiest job because I have no announcements.
I just came here momentarily to say hello and I think the briefing is over.
So see you here Tuesday, this coming Friday, once again, the 1st of August, it's a national holiday, so we won't have the briefing.
We'd like to thank all our briefers once again and thanks to you for your attention and see you here on Tuesday.
And, and good luck with covering these upcoming conferences this week and next.
