UN News Today 11 November 2026 |

Climate crisis is outrunning us, UN chief warns COP31

The climate crisis is outrunning us all while fossil fuels “keep making a killing”, Secretary-General António Guterres has told the UN climate talks – COP31 – in Türkiye.

Addressing Heads of State at the Leaders’ Summit, the UN chief quipped that “it’s make-or-bake time”. 

The brutal truth is that emissions last year reached all-time highs and heat records keep being shattered, with the last four years the hottest ever, he said.

Mr. Guterres, who has frequently warned that climate action is happening far too slowly, noted that in Paris 11 years ago, the world pledged to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees above the pre-industrial baseline.

And although scientists say that this target is going to be missed, the Secretary-General insisted that science is telling us “to fight harder” to correct it, for the sake of humanity:

“The truth is that we have the power to determine how high, how long and how devastating that overshoot will be…because climate action is more than a fight over a number on a thermometer. We are in the fight for our lives and our children’s future.” 

The Secretary-General urged all nations to seize the opportunities offered by clean energy which is now “the cheapest source of new electricity across most of the world”.

He also called time on fossil fuels saying they need to go the way of the dinosaurs, warning world leaders not to underestimate the strength of the lobbying efforts to maintain the status quo.

Above all, Mr. Guterres insisted that global emissions of warming greenhouse gases must fall by six per cent a year: at best, national plans for now will deliver just two per cent.

After 48 years on the Blue Line, UN force prepares to exit Lebanon 

The situation in southern Lebanon remains volatile and extremely difficult for communities trying to rebuild their lives, UN peacekeepers based there report.

This is despite a significant decrease in hostilities following an agreement in June between the United States, Lebanon and Israel, seeking to end hostilities and a peaceful future for all those impacted by decades of clashes between Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli military. 

According to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), daily violations by Israeli forces continue to be observed across southern Lebanon.

And yet people continue to return to their homes, or what is left of them, says spokesperson Kandice Ardiel:

“Many villages where people are able to return are heavily damaged. And there are, of course, many where people are not able to return at all. The situation in South Lebanon is extremely difficult for people to live. Considering that a lot of the infrastructure, necessary infrastructure like electricity, water and even roads have been destroyed and need to be rebuilt.”

Every day, Israeli forces continue to build positions and roads, while also carrying out military operations, demolitions, airstrikes and artillery fire, Ms. Ardiel noted. 

On Tuesday, UNIFIL reported that a routine patrol near Wadi Jilu in the south was fired upon. Peacekeepers returned fire and said that the shooting stopped, with no injuries reported. 

The force has called for a prompt investigation from the Lebanese Government.

Latest UN data indicates that the number of internally displaced who’ve returned home has increased by 13 per cent since September, to nearly one million. 

More than 304,000 people still live outside their areas of origin.

UN human rights chief hails ‘landmark judgment’ on same-sex relations in Trinidad and Tobago 

A judicial ruling that decriminalizes same-sex relations in Trinidad and Tobago is a “milestone” towards ending discrimination, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Wednesday. 

Mr. Türk’s comments followed the decision by the United Kingdom Privy Council to overturn laws against same-sex couples in the Commonwealth island nation, the UK body being Trinidad and Tobago’s highest court of appeal.

The judgement is the culmination of gay rights activist Jason Jones’s campaign to challenge his country’s laws which criminalize homosexual relations based on colonial-era rules, Trinidad and Tobago being a former British colony, before declaring independence in 1962.

Here’s Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: 

“The unanimous decision is a significant milestone for human rights and equality. It strengthens the principles of dignity, privacy, non-discrimination, and equal protection under the law. We hope the judgment will help remove a longstanding source of stigma, exclusion, barriers and violence experienced by Trinidadians and Tobagonians based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

In his statement, the High Commissioner urged other countries to decriminalize consensual same-sex relations between people above the age of consent.

“This would align with the strong regional trend of repealing outdated and harmful colonial laws and with the principle of equal treatment for everyone,” Mr. Türk said.

The UN human rights chief has consistently called for laws that criminalize LGBTQ+ people to be “consigned to history”. He has also welcomed the fact that a growing number of countries are doing so.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.