At a time when the international community seeks to regulate the rich tapestry of ocean floors on the planet while countries and companies accelerate towards high seas extraction opportunities, here is what you need to know about Isa and why it is important now:

What is he doing?

ISA manages the mineral resources of the seabed beyond the national jurisdiction, which covers 54% of the oceans of the world, for “the common benefit of all humanity”.

Created by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1994, ISA aims to guarantee that all economic activities in the deep foundations, including mining, are regulated and managed in responsibility.

Mandated to guarantee the effective protection of the marine environment against the harmful effects which can result from the activities linked to the deep magnitude, its work also contribute At 2030 agenda for sustainable development.

Why does that count now?

As the only international body in the world which focuses on the deep region beyond national borders, ISA aims to respond to urgent concerns, plastic waste litter the oceans to the race to secure the minerals of rare earth to quench the insatiable thirst of the world for lithium batteries and a range of technological articles.

What types of rare earth minerals are on the bottom of the ocean? Cobalt, copper, gold, lanthane, neodymia, nickel, silver, yttrium and zinc to name only a few.

Currently, countries can continue operating on the high seas in their own territorial waters or “exclusive economic zones”. But, under international law, the seabed Deep does not belong to any country or business, the secretary general of the ISA, Leticia Carvalho, wrote in a recent editorial.

“This is our common heritage,” she said.

What is the mining code project?

Currently, nations are looking for more and more sources of rare earth minerals to meet the demand for renewable energy technologies and elements such as mobile phones and computers. The high seas contains a plethora of supplies. This is where the mining code project comes into play.

During its 30th session, ISA members work on a code project that would protect the marine environment and strengthen the foundations to ensure that all activities in the in -depth sea region are carried out in a responsible manner and in accordance with the principles of environmental sustainability as well as for all humanity.

Attack the “paradox of missing plastics”

Plastic pollution is another part of the problem. To solve this problem and other urgent problems, ISA members adopted a global research program in July 2020, serving as a maritime scientific research plan with six strategic priorities that include knowledge of knowledge on the high seas, promoting data sharing and providing information on ecosystems in high sea, promotion of data sharing and information on information on Scientific landscape of plastics on the high seas.

This last growing world challenge has potential consequences for the sustainable use of the oceans. In 2019, the plastic industry produced more than 450 million tonnes of plastic, a figure that should increase in the coming decades and should increase pressure on marine and species. However, part of the plastics entering the oceans remains unrecovered, a phenomenon known as “paradox of missing plastics”.

Some researchers suggest that the deep sea can act as a well for plastic debris, where their prolonged persistence could present risks for these environments.

The new world biobank on the high seas

Isa has also just started filling her new bioffelk, spear in June on the margins of United Nations Ocean Conference In Nice, France. The Biobank initiative (DBI) on the high seas (DBI) aims to improve access to organic samples on the high seas and to genetic data collected in the International Seab Foundation area.

Designed to promote research on the high seas and inclusive scientific collaboration, in particular for the development of states, the initiative will establish a global repository of organic samples and will develop standard operational procedures to improve the quality, sharing and use of data by stakeholders.

“The DBI is ISA’s response to an increasing need to advance research, share data, strengthen capacity and facilitate access to in -depth knowledge, in particular for developing states,” said the head of the Carvalho authority. “We aim to create standardized and fair paths for scientific collaboration, the empowerment of countries and institutions to explore, understand and protect the most distant ecosystems from the ocean.”

Diving ‘Deepdata’

The richness of data and information collected by ISA has been essential to shape environmental management plans. Each byte of data collected by high seas exploration adds new critical information on life in the ocean and helps decision -making.

When launching the Deepdata database in 2019, ISA made the largest and complete global framework for environmental data and information on the deep region for the first time.

How many data has exactly been collected? In May 2023, Deepdata contained more than 10 teraoctets, almost equivalent to 6.9 million Instagram downloads. Widely used worldwide, it has experienced around 2.4 million visitors in 2022 only and more than 160 quotes in scientific publications.

Learn more about Isa here.

It is the only lasting path to global security, it said ministers to a high -level open debate in Security advice Tuesday.

The secretary general stressed that the Charter of the United NationsTools – negotiation, mediation, conciliation, arbitration and more – remain a life buoy when tensions increaseThe grievances are transformed and the states trust themselves.

These tools are more necessary than ever, he stressed, because the rage of conflicts and international law are violated with impunity.

“” The cost is amazing – measured in human life, broken communities and lost future. We do not need to seek further than the horror spectacle in Gaza – with a level of death and destruction without parallel lately. »»

The risk of famine and aid operations is refused space and security to operate. UN premises, such as the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOTS) and the World Health Organization (WHO)) main warehouse,, were affected Despite the informed parties of their locations.

“These premises are inviolable and must be protected by international humanitarian law – without exception,” reiterated Mr. Guterres.

Peace is a choice-do it

From Gaza to Ukraine, from the Sahel to Sudan, Haiti and Myanmar, “the conflict is in rage, international law is trampled on, and hunger and movement are at record levels,” he continued, adding that terrorism, violent extremism and transnational crime also remain “persistent buttocks” which push security within reach.

“” Peace is a choice. And the world expects the Security Council to help countries make this choice.“”

Mr. Guterres underlined the obligation of the foundation of the UN Charter in Article 2.3 that “all members will settle their international disputes by peaceful means”, and Chapter VIwhich allows the Security Council to support “negotiation, investigation, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial regulations, recourse to regional agencies or arrangements, or other peaceful means of their choice”.

Action 16 of last year Pact for the future Exhort the States to remedy preventive diplomacy, he said, congratulating Pakistan-the chairman of the Council for July-for having deposited a resolution encouraging a more complete use of these tools, which was adopted unanimously at the meeting.

P5 must overcome the divisions

The members of the Security Council-“in particular its permanent members”-must overcome the divisions, said the secretary general, reminding them that even during the Cold War, the dialogue of the Council underpinned peacekeeping missions and humanitarian access, and helped to prevent a third world war.

He urged members to keep the canals open, build a consensus and make the body “more representative” of today’s geopolitical realities with more inclusive, transparent and responsible working methods.

Mr. Guterres also urged more in-depth cooperation with regional and sub-regional organizations.

Mediation can work even in the middle of the war, he said, noting the third anniversary of the Black Sea initiative and a related memorandum with Russia which allowed cereal movements during the conflict in Ukraine.

Renew commitment to multilateralism

States must honor their obligations under the Charter; International human rights, refugees and humanitarian law and the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence, said Mr. Guterres.

“” As we mark the 80th anniversary of our organization and the charter which gave it life and form, we must renew our commitment to the multilateral peace spirit by diplomacy“He said.

“” I can’t wait to work with you to achieve the international peace and security that the inhabitants of the world need and deserve.“”

Open debate of the Security Council

An event signature of the Pakistani presidency, the open debate on Tuesday was chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Ishaq Dar.

The session aimed to assess the effectiveness of existing mechanisms for the settlement of Pacific disputes, to examine best practices and to explore new strategies to fight against prolonged conflicts.

He also sought to strengthen cooperation with regional organizations, strengthen capacity building and the mobilization of resources and align future efforts with the vision of conflict prevention described in the Pact for the future.

The United Nations World Meteorological Organization (Wmo) said on Monday that more intense showers and glacier lighting floods are becoming more and more frequent, with deadly consequences for communities caught.

“” Sudden floods are not new, but their frequency and intensity increase in many regions due to rapid urbanization, the change of land use and a changing climate“Said Stefan Uhlenbrook, Director of Hydrology, Water and the Cryosphere of the OMM.

Each additional degree of warming Celsius allows air to contain about 7% additional water vapor.

“” This increases the risk of more extreme precipitation events. At the same time, the risks of flooding in glaciers increase due to improved ice melting in a warmer climate“, He added.

Thousands of lives lost each year

Sudden floods and floods make thousands of lives each year and cause Billions of dollars of damage. In 2020, serious floods across South Asia killed more than 6,500 people and caused $ 105 billion in economic losses.

Two years later, Catastrophic floods in Pakistan Leave more than 1,700 dead, 33 million people affected and losses exceeding $ 40 billion, reversing years of development winnings.

This year, the assault continued. In July, South Asia, East Asia and the United States have seen a series of fatal events, monsoon rains with glacial lake and sudden floods.

Asia coil of the MOSSON Assault

In India and Pakistan, the heavy monsoon rains broke the transport links, washed the houses and launched landslides. Pakistan has declared the state of emergency In its most affected areas, the deployment of military helicopters for rescue missions after the forecasters warned against the risk of exceptional flood along the upper Jhelum river.

The Republic of Korea has undergone record showers between July 16 and 20, with precipitation greater than 115 mm per hour in certain places. At least 18 people were killed and more than 13,000 were evacuated.

In southern China, the authorities published sudden floods and landslide alerts on July 21, just a day after Typhoon Wipha beaten Hong Kong, highlighting the composed risks of sequential storms.

Texas flash flood hits night

Overnight on July 4, a A sudden deluge transformed Texas Hill Country into a disaster zonekilling more than 100 people and leaving dozens missing. In a few hours, 10-18 inches (25–46 cm) of rain overwhelmed the Guadalupe river basin, sending the river up 26 feet (8 meters) in just 45 minutes.

Many victims were young girls in a summer camp, took the current while flood waters tear the dormitories around 4 am. Although the National Weather Service US has expressed warnings in advance, local sirens were missing and the final alerts came when most were sleeping.

The glacier test floods the rise

Not all floods are caused by rain.

In the Rasuwa district in Nepal, a sudden explosion of a supraglacial lake – formed on the surface of a glacier – swept the hydroelectric power plants, a major bridge and commercial roads on July 7. At least 11 people were killed and more than a dozen would have disappeared.

Scientists from the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICimod), a WMO partner, for example Floods of glacial origin in the Hindu region of Kush-Himalaya occur much more often two decades agoWhen you could hit every five to 10 years.

In May and June 2025 only, three ice lighting floods hit Nepal, Afghanistan and Pakistan, with two others in Nepal on July 7. If warming continues, the risk of these floods could triple at the end of the century.

Fill the warning difference

WMO intensifies efforts to improve flood forecasts thanks to its global real-time initiative and guidance platform, now used in more than 70 countries.

The system incorporates satellite data, radar and high -resolution weather models to signal threats of hours in advance and develops in an interoperable framework on the world led by the country.

A World Bank study in 2022 estimated that 1.81 billion people – almost a quarter of the world’s population – are directly exposed to flooding events of 1 in 100 years, 89% living in low and intermediate income countries.

The UN The first warnings for all The initiative aims to guarantee that everyone, everywhere, is protected by early alert systems by 2027.

The United Nations Security Council meets today for a high -level open debate on Promote international peace and security through multilateralism and peaceful dispute resolutionChaired by the Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Ishaq Dar. The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, should arise as more than 80 Member States join discussions on strengthening diplomacy and conflict prevention mechanisms. UN NewsIn coordination with the coverage of UN meetings, brings you live updates. UN applications users can follow here.

“” Doctors, nurses, journalists, humanitarian workers, including UNRWA The staff, hungry…Vanish due to hunger and exhaustion while exercising their tasks “,” said Juliette Touma, director of communications with the United Nations Agency for Refugees in Palestine, UNRWA.

Speaking of Amman, she pointed out that the search for food “has become as deadly as the bombing”.

Development intervenes as a United Nations Human Rights Office, Ohchrannounced Tuesday that more than 1,000 Palestinians were now killed by the Israeli army while he was trying to make food in Gaza since the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began to operate on May 27.

“As of July 21, we recorded 1,054 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food,” said spokesperson for the Ohchr Thameen al-Kheetan; “766 of them were killed in the vicinity of the GHF sites and 288 near the UN and other convoys of help from humanitarian organizations.”

Mr. Al-Kheetan noted that the conclusion came from “multiple reliable sources in the field, including medical teams, humanitarian organizations and human rights. It is still in the process of verifying our strict methodology. ”

The huts of the foundation are supported by the United States and the Israeli authorities and began to operate in southern Gaza on May 27, bypassing the UN and the other established NGOs.

Help relief is not a job for mercenaries

“The so-called GHF distribution program is a sadistic death screed,” said Touma of UNRWA. “The elite shooters open fire at random on the crowds, as if they were given a license to kill. »»

Quoting a declaration by UNRWA Head Philippe Lazzarini, Ms. Touma described the “massive hunting of people in total impunity” program.

“This cannot be our new standard. Humanitarian aid is not the work of mercenaries “,” She added.

UNRWA’s spokesman insisted that the UN and its humanitarian partners have the expertise, experience and resources available to provide safe, dignified and scale assistance.

“We have proven it repeatedly during the last cease-fire,” she said.

Living conditions in the band have reached a new level because the prices of basic products have increased by around 4,000%. For the inhabitants of Gaza who have lost their house and have been moved several times, they have no income and find themselves completely deprived of essentials.

$ 200 for a bag of flour

Ms. Touma underlined the testimony of a colleague on the field who had to walk for hours to buy a bag of lenses and flour, paying nearly $ 200 for that.

The United Nations World Food Program on Monday (Wfp) said a quarter of the Gaza population faces famine type conditions. Nearly 100,000 women and children suffer from acute serious malnutrition and need treatment as soon as possible.

Vital everyday items such as layers are rare and expensive, at around $ 3 each. Mothers resorted to the use of plastic bags instead, while a father “said he had to cut one of his last shirts to give his daughter sanitary pads,” said Touma.

“We, at UNRWA, have stocks of hygiene supplies, including layers for babies and for adults waiting outside the doors of Gaza,” said Touma, insisting that the agency has 6000 trucks loaded with food, drugs and hygiene supplies pending in Egypt and Jordan to be authorized to enter the Enclave.

Urgent ceasefire call

She reiterated UN calls to “an agreement that would bring a cease-fire, which would release hostages, which would cause a standard flow of humanitarian supplies to Gaza under the leadership of the United Nations, including UNRWA.”

Humanitarian operations in the enclave are pushed into a “constantly disputed space”, said the World Health Organization (WHO) Tarik Jašarević spokesperson.

The information journalists in Geneva sentenced three attacks on Monday in a building in the building which of the staff of Deir al-Balah, in the center of Gaza, as well as the “ill-treatment of those who are housed there and the destruction of his main warehouse”.

“The staff and their families, including the children, were exposed to a serious danger and traumatized after air strikes caused a fire and significant damage,” said Mr. Jašarević, adding that the Israeli soldiers entered the premises, “forcing women and children to evacuate” to the coastal shelter of Al Mawasi.

Detected under the threat of a weapon

The WHO spokesman said that the staff and family members were “bound, stripped, interviewed on the spot and projected under the threat of a weapon”. Two staff members and two family members were detained and while three were released later, a WHO staff member remains in detention for unknown reasons for the organization.

Jašarević called for the release of the detainee staff member and insisted that “no one should be held without accusations and without regular procedures”.

The last evacuation order for the region had an impact on several premises and compromised its presence on the ground, “paralyzing efforts to support a collapsed health system,” added Mr. Jašarević and “repel the more out of reach of more than two million people”.

On Monday, the Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah also caused an explosion and fire inside the warehouse of which is the principal, which is located in the evacuation zone of the central city of Gazan-“part of a systematic destruction model of health facilities,” said the agency spokesperson.

According to the Gaza health authorities, since the start of the war in October 2023, 1,500 health workers have been killed in the strip. Some 94% of all health establishments have been damaged and half of Gaza hospitals are “not at all functional,” said Jašarević.

“The possibility of preventing loss of lives and reversing immense damage to the health system is more out of reach every day,” he said.

Visa refusal

By highlighting other challenges in the humanitarian operation in Gaza, the WHO spokesman underlined an increase in the refusal of visas by the Israeli authorities for emergency medical teams seeking to enter the band since the last ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on March 18.

He said 58 international employees for emergency medical teams, including critical surgeons and doctors have been denied access.

Ms. Touma de l’UNRWA underlined the fact that since the agency’s general commissioner was denied the entrance to Gaza in March 2024, he was not authorized to return to the strip. He also did not receive a visa from Israel to enter the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, for more than a year.

UNRWA spokesperson also deplored the lack of access to international media at the enclave.

“It is certainly time, if not a long time, for international media to go precisely to Gaza to examine the facts and help report first-hand information on the horrors that the inhabitants of Gaza live,” she said.