This archive tracks progress tied to the United Nations — from landmark agreements and humanitarian milestones to global health and climate commitments. Stories here show how multilateral cooperation produces real-world results.
Gay received her Ph.D. in government from Harvard in 1998 and joined the Harvard faculty in 2006. She previously served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She is now the President of perhaps the world’s most prestigious university.
Ocean protection just took a huge leap forward: more than 76 countries and the European Union signed the High Seas Treaty on its very first day open for signatures at the U.N. General Assembly. The agreement creates the first-ever legal framework to establish protected areas across international waters, which cover two-thirds of the planet yet remain almost entirely unguarded. It also requires that benefits from marine genetic resources — think pharmaceuticals drawn from deep-sea life — be shared fairly with nations in the Global South. Once 60 countries ratify, the treaty takes effect, opening the door to meeting the global goal of protecting 30% of the oceans by 2030 and giving marine life a fighting chance.
Malaria vaccines are heading to twelve African countries for the first time, with 18 million doses of RTS,S/AS01 set to roll out between 2023 and 2025. Nine nations are introducing the shot into routine childhood immunization, joining Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi, where more than 1.7 million children have already been vaccinated since 2019. The pilot countries have seen severe malaria cases and child deaths decline, and families are showing up eager for their children to be protected. After a century of scientific struggle against one of humanity’s deadliest diseases, this rollout marks a turning point — proof that patient global collaboration can deliver lifesaving tools to the children who need them most.
The advisory opinion, spearheaded by youth activists from Vanuatu, could impact thousands of lawsuits filed worldwide against governments for their inaction in addressing the crisis.
For the first time, the world has a binding legal framework to protect life across the high seas — the vast international waters that cover roughly half of Earth’s surface and have long existed beyond the reach of environmental law. More than 190 countries agreed to the deal, which creates a pathway to establish marine protected areas in waters that are currently almost entirely unguarded. The ocean absorbs carbon, produces oxygen, and sustains biodiversity we’re only beginning to understand. This treaty shows that even the hardest global problems can bend toward cooperation.\n\n*Word count: 84*
Nearly 200 countries just agreed to protect 30 percent of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030 — a leap from the 16 percent of land and 8 percent of seas currently safeguarded. The deal, struck in the early hours of a December morning in Montreal, also commits wealthy nations to send $30 billion a year to developing countries for nature protection. Crucially, Indigenous communities — who steward an estimated 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity — won language protecting their land rights and traditional knowledge in how these areas are governed. Past pledges have faltered, and enforcement remains the open question. But for a world losing species at rates unseen since the dinosaurs, having nearly every nation in one room agreeing to reverse course is a milestone worth marking.
The Methane Alert & Response System, part of the UN Environment Programme’s International Methane Emissions Observatory, will be the first-ever publicly available global database of methane hot spots.
The resolution, based on a similar text adopted last year by the Human Rights Council, calls upon States, international organizations, and business enterprises to scale up efforts to ensure a healthy environment for all.
The crucial resolution will help develop a better understanding of the relationship between improving animal welfare and tackling the drivers of wildlife loss, climate change, pollution and pandemic diseases.
The measure calls for an international negotiating committee to set the terms of a treaty on plastic pollution by the end of 2024.
