(Climate and Environment – COP30) As the planet heats up, so does the race for smarter, cleaner technology. At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, delegates are weighing a paradox at the heart of climate innovation: how to harness powerful tools like artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced cooling systems without deepening the very crisis they aim to solve. AI is already helping farmers predict droughts and manage crops more efficiently, but the environmental cost of training large models and running vast data centres is raising alarms. Meanwhile, cooling – once seen as a luxury, now a survival need in many parts of the world – remains one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions. From passive cooling architecture to solar-powered refrigeration, sustainable alternatives are gaining traction but scaling them up is another story. At the centre of the negotiations at COP30 is the long-delayed Technology Implementation Programme, a blueprint for getting life-saving innovations into the hands of those who need them most. But progress is slow. Intellectual property rules, commercial restrictions, and financing hurdles continue to block access for developing countries – even as the urgency grows. – Keeping cool on a hotter planet: COP30 pushes for sustainable cooling and AI innovation | UN News
(Law and Crime Prevention – International Criminal Court) Coercion and sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) are “assaults on the very principles of international law itself,” the President of the UN General Assembly warned on Tuesday. Annalena Baerbock’s statement came as the assembly discussed the ICC’s annual report in the light of United States’ sanctions imposed on judges and prosecutors this year. The sanctions stem from an executive order in February in response to the UN-backed court issuing arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister and then defence minister, for alleged war crimes in Gaza. – International Criminal Court: Sanctions threaten global fight against impunity | UN News
(Human Rights – Haiti) Fifty-two prisoners have died in Haiti’s overcrowded prisons between July and September this year in conditions that have been described by the United Nations as “inhuman and degrading.”. Most of those people died “as a result of lack of medical care, unsanitary cells, insufficient food, and limited access to drinking water,” according to the latest UN human rights report about the situation in the Caribbean island nation. Haiti is facing a dire humanitarian, political and security crisis due to gang violence, compounded by deep-rooted poverty and a series of devastating natural disasters, including most recently Hurricane Melissa. The country’s justice system has struggled to function effectively amidst these crises. Cases are not being tried quickly enough and 82 per cent of prisoners are being held in detention while they await their trial. Here’s what you need to know about prisons in Haiti and how the UN is helping to improve the situation for detainees. – Trapped behind bars: Reforming Haiti’s broken detention system | UN News
(Peace and Security – Tanzania) Hundreds of protesters and others have been killed and an unknown number injured or detained in Tanzania following protests surrounding last month’s elections, according to reports obtained by the UN human rights office (OHCHR). Tanzanians took to the streets on 29 October against the re-election of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, in a protest that quickly escalated into violence and death. Harrowing reports have emerged of “families desperately searching everywhere for their loved ones, visiting one police station after another and one hospital after another,” the UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Tuesday. Further reports suggest that security forces transported the bodies of some of those killed to undisclosed locations, said OHCHR. – Tanzania: Reports of hundreds killed and detained following deadly election violence | UN News
(Peace and Security – South Sudan) South Sudan is entering a period of rising instability marked by political polarisation, renewed armed clashes, and severe humanitarian strain, senior UN officials told the Security Council on Tuesday. A “breaking point is becoming visible” in the peace process, they cautioned, as core commitments under a landmark 2018 peace agreement stall or go into reverse. – Stakes rise for South Sudan: What’s happening, and why it matters | UN News
(Peace and Security – Sudan) In war-torn Sudan, rape is likely being used as a weapon of war and simply being a woman there is “a strong predictor” of hunger, violence and death, the UN’s gender equality agency warned on Tuesday. “Women speaking to us from El Fasher, the heart of Sudan’s latest catastrophe, tell us that they’ve endured starvation…displacement, rape and bombardment,” Anna Mutavati, UN Women Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, told reporters in Geneva. “Pregnant women have given birth in the streets as the last remaining maternity hospitals were looted and destroyed.”. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia captured North Darfur state capital El Fasher after more than 500 days of siege in late October, amid reports of widespread atrocities including summary executions and sexual violence. – Sudan war: Women endure starvation, rape and bombs fleeing El Fasher | UN News
(Humanitarian Aid – Carribean) Two weeks after Hurricane Melissa tore through the Caribbean, governments and aid agencies are still struggling to reach communities left without homes, healthcare and basic services, as damage assessments in Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti continue to rise, the UN said on Tuesday. – Hurricane Melissa: Relief efforts intensify as damage across Caribbean grows | UN News
