Denouncing lethal attacks targeting electoral activities in Afghanistan as the country prepares to go to polls later this week, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on all parties to ensure a peaceful and orderly elections.

In a statement by his spokesperson, Mr. Guterres underscored that deliberate targeting of civilians is a violation of international humanitarian law.

“In the run up to the parliamentary elections on 20 October, the Secretary-General urges all parties to ensure a peaceful and orderly electoral process by creating a safe environment for political candidates to campaign and for citizens to exercise their right to assemble and vote,” added the statement.

According to media reports, at least 22 people died and more than 35 wounded when a bomb went off at an election campaign rally in Takhar province in north-eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, and at least two individuals, including a child, were killed in a separate attack on a candidate’s office in Herat, western Afghanistan.

In the statement, the UN chief also extended his deepest sympathies to the families of those killed and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

Highlighting the challenges migratory birds face in their epic journeys, senior United Nations officials have called on the global community to join forces and “unify voices for bird conservation.”

In a message marking the World Migratory Bird Day, Secretary-General António Guterres said that migratory birds are symbols of peace and of an interconnected planet.

“[They] connect people, ecosystems and nations … Their epic journeys inspire people of all ages, across the globe,” he stated.

The Day is an opportunity to celebrate the great natural wonder of bird migration – but also a reminder that those patterns, and ecosystems worldwide, are threatened by climate change, added Mr. Guterres.

In his message, the UN chief called on governments and people everywhere to take concerted “conservation action that will help to ensure the birds’ survival – and our own.”

Initiated in 2006, the World Day is celebrated every second Saturday of May and October – coinciding with with the summer-winter cycle of migration – with hundreds of events around the globe to highlight the need for international cooperation to conserve migratory birds and their habitats for the benefit of mankind.

This year, the campaign is being jointly run, for the first time, between Environment for the Americas, and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), two intergovernmental wildlife treaties administered by UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

And as though the obstacles that nature throws in their way were not enough, mankind is doing its best to make life even more difficult for migratory birds – CMS head Bradnee Chambers

“By joining forces, we have these united three organizations committed to conserving the planet’s migratory birds,” Bradnee Chambers, the Executive Secretary of CMS, said in a message.

“[We] have chosen to unify our voices for bird conservation because of the very real threats these animals face in their struggle to survive. And as though the obstacles that nature throws in their way were not enough, mankind is doing its best to make life even more difficult for migratory birds.”

In a separate message, Jacques Trouvilliez, the Executive Secretary of AEWA, stressed that “birds need us more than ever.”

He highlighted the threats the birds face, ranging from destruction of their habitats to poaching, pollution and climate change, and called for cooperation and coordination between States and conservation actors along the migratory pathways.  

“The danger is increased when these birds are migrating, flying over seas, mountains and deserts, undertaking journeys they may never complete. Their survival depends on our commitment,” said Mr. Trouvilliez.

Highlighting the steep human and economic impact of disasters, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on countries to improve data collection on the catastrophes, including comprehensive accounting of economic losses, to advance progress on crisis prevention.

In a message commemorating the International Day for Disaster Reduction – which this year fell shortly after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia – Mr. Guterres said that measuring economic losses “can also motivate Governments to do more” to achieve the targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

“A better understanding of the economic losses from extreme weather events can help to generate greater action on climate change and increased ambition on reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

“Reducing the economic losses from disasters has the power to transform lives and contribute greatly to the eradication of poverty.”

Globally, millions are affected, lose their homes and livelihoods as a result of extreme weather events and natural disasters, while economic losses cost nations billions of dollars.

However in spite of the staggering impact, not all countries report systematically on the economic losses from major disaster events, according to a recent report by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

Between 1998-2017, losses were recorded in only 53 per cent of disasters in high-income countries, while in low-income countries, the figure was a mere 13 per cent.

Improving data collection and analysis, can therefore, bring immense benefits to all countries in not only reducing economic losses, but also saving lives and livelihoods and managing disaster risk, said UNISDR.

This year, the International Day focuses on Target C of the Sendai Framework, reducing disaster economic losses in relation to global GDP by 2030. Agreed by UN Member States, in 2015, the Sendai Framework includes seven targets and four priorities for action to reduce disaster risk.

Held every 13 October, the International Day for Disaster Reduction celebrates how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of reining in the risks that they face.

Checking global warming and preventing some of the worst-case scenarios of runaway climate change “is still possible,” the United Nations Secretary-General said on Saturday, urging greater action and ambitions.

“Limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees will require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society – especially how we manage land, energy, industry, buildings, transport and cities,” Secretary-General António Guterres, at a ministerial meeting on climate finance, in Bali, Indonesia.

“That means ending deforestation and planting billions more trees; drastically reducing the use of fossil fuels and massively increasing renewable energy; switching to climate-friendly sustainable agriculture.; considering new technologies, such as carbon capture and storage.”

In his remarks, the UN chief made a particular call for “climate friendly” investments, particularly in the infrastructure sector, where over $90 trillion in investments is expected by 2030.

“The next few years are critical [and] your leadership is needed,” Mr. Guterres told the ministers.

‘We cannot afford to ignore climate risk’

Highlighting enormous economic losses to climate-related disasters and projections that by 2050, climate change could reduce annual GDP in some South and Southeast Asian countries by up to 4 per cent, the Secretary-General underscored that climate risk cannot be ignored.

“We need a new economic framework that integrates climate and disaster risk in all aspects of finance, planning and budgeting,” he said.

We need a new economic framework that integrates climate and disaster risk in all aspects of finance, planning and budgeting

Alongside, effective economic policy and fiscal instruments are also needed, he continued, urging a “meaningful price” on carbon and an end to fossil fuel subsidies to promote low-carbon and climate-resilient growth.

He also called for “fundamental shifts” in climate financing, including government policies that can increase resources available for climate action.

“Governments need to encourage their banks to support green financing and innovative financial instruments – such as green bonds – and debt instruments that can strengthen the resilience of vulnerable nations,” said the UN chief, calling also for the mobilization of private sector financing.

In his remarks, he also called on countries to make full use of the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-24), to be held in Katowice, Poland, and to come out of the meeting with a robust framework that allows countries to operationalize and implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

“I count on all leaders to call on their negotiators to resolve all sticking points and insist on progress,” he said.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called for a surge in investment, long-term financing and global stability to overcome the obstacles to inclusive, resilient and environmentally sustainable global growth. 

Addressing finance ministers and central bank governors at International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), in Bali, Indonesia, the UN chief cautioned that high debt in many countries are limiting fiscal space and taking away much needed resources vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“This underlines the importance of international cooperation and of the full motivation and attraction of the private sector to fully play its role in the 2030 Agenda [for Sustainable Development],” said Mr. Guterres

In that context, he highlighted the importance of the full implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and recalled his Strategy to support Financing the 2030 Agenda, which he launched ahead of this year’s high-level general debate at the UN General Assembly.

The Strategy sets out three priority action areas: aligning global financial and economic policies with the 2030 Agenda; enhancing national and regional sustainable financing and investment strategies; and encouraging financial inclusion and equitable access to finance for all, particularly for women and youth.

Finance ministries and central banks are critical to all three areas, said Secretary-General Guterres, noting that with active engagement and cooperation, they can lead the way in framing policies needed to stabilize financial flows and minimize disruptions.

“You bear the responsibility for formulating national budgets that support national sustainable development strategies that are fully aligned with the 2030 Agenda. You can set your fiscal policies to create positive incentives for longer-term sustainable investments and a transition to sustainable, equitable and inclusive growth,” he said.

Strong international cooperation can also put an end to practices such as illicit flows of capital, money laundering and tax evasion, which drain vital resources away from developing countries and strengthen good-governance and tax-systems, added Mr. Guterres.

Climate action ‘a matter for each one of us’

Concluding his address, the Secretary-General highlighted the urgency to combat climate change.

Recalling the recent report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which issued a stark warning on global temperature rise, Mr. Guterres, underscored the urgent need to curb greenhouse gas emissions “if we want to avoid that the targets of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change become irreversibly unattainable.”

“We have technology on our side, the green economy is more and more the best path for development. But political will is still lacking,” he said, urging “a meaningful price on carbon, to end fossil fuel subsidies, to invest in climate-friendly infrastructure that does not lock us for decades into an unsustainable path.”

“This is not a matter for Ministers of the Environment.  This is a matter for all political leaders in today’s world.  This is a matter for each one of us.”