Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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November 13, 2025 Climate and environment
At the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, a number of key initiatives were unveiled on Thursday, united by a common goal to protect people and the planet from the impacts of the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, and ensure a sustainable future.
Green projects for refugees
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has launched the world's first large-scale sustainable financing initiative led by internally displaced people themselves.
Refugee Fund for Environmental Protection (Refugee Environmental Protection Fund) will support projects to restore forests, introduce clean energy sources and create green jobs, linking nature restoration with support for livelihoods.
"The fund enables us to invest in nature, create safer environments, and engage people in processes that protect the land they depend on," said Siddhartha Sinha, head of UNHCR's Innovative Financing Unit.
The first projects are being implemented in Uganda and Rwanda, where they plan to restore over 6,000 hectares of degraded land, provide access to clean energy for over 15,000 people, introduce cleaner and safer cooking solutions, and create sustainable jobs in nursery management, soil conservation, and household services. These measures will help reduce carbon emissions by over 200,000 tons annually, strengthen food and water systems, and create livelihood opportunities.
The fund is already preparing to expand its work in Brazil and Bangladesh, including projects to protect Amazon forests and indigenous ecosystems.
Water and climate action
Speaking at the Baku Dialogue on Water for Climate Action, UNEP Director General Inger Andersen emphasizedthat water must become a central theme of climate efforts.
“Nearly three billion people suffer from water shortages, and 90 percent of natural disasters are water-related,” she said.
The Water for Climate Action initiative, supported by UNEP, the World Meteorological Programme (WMO) and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), aims to stimulate investments in nature-based solutions and integrated water resources management, with a particular focus on vulnerable regions.
Reducing food loss
In addition, UNEP and partners launched the Breakthrough on Food Loss initiative (Food Waste Breakthrough), which aims to halve global food loss by 2030, reduce methane emissions by 7 percent and reduce global hunger.
The world's population wastes over 1 billion tons of food annually, accounting for 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
"The world loses an unacceptable amount of food every year in all countries – rich and poor. Reducing food waste is key to fighting hunger and reducing methane emissions," emphasized Inger Andersen.
A new program, funded by the Global Environment Facility, will support cities and countries in developing national strategies to reduce food waste and methane emissions, adapting and scaling up proven solutions in developing countries, and strengthening international cooperation in this area.
New toolkit to combat extreme heat
The UN was also represented at COP30 Risk Management Framework and Toolkit, which are created by extreme heat.
The initiative will help countries assess and reduce the risks associated with extreme heat, which kills more than 500,000 people annually and causes approximately $1 trillion in lost productivity.
“Integrated, cross-sectoral and multi-level heat-risk management is no longer a matter of choice – it is a matter of survival,” said Kamal Kishore, head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
In 2026, pilot projects will be conducted in Barbados, Senegal, and Cambodia, where practical mechanisms for coordination, financing, and early response will be tested.
Environmentalists
On the eve of the high-level session “Protect defenders”, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ilze Brands Kehris called upon support human rights defenders who fight for people's right to a healthy environment.
According to her, environmental defenders are subject to persecution, arrest, and even murder: 167 such activists were killed in 2024. They have also been detained in 28 countries.
"These numbers are not abstractions, but real human lives lost or forever changed in the fight to protect our planet," Brands Keris said.
“We are obliged not only to thank them, but also to provide them with reliable protection,” she emphasized.
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