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Somali refugee children cover themselves as a dust storm moves across the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya, July 13, 2023
THE United Nations general assembly has declared that 2025 to 2034 will be the world body’s Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms.
Such storms are increasing in number and size, threatening health and economies from central Africa to northern China.
Ugandan UN ambassador Godfrey Kwoba, who introduced the resolution on behalf of the Group of 77, comprising 134 developing countries and China, told the 193-member assembly on Wednesday that the initiative aims to “halt and mitigate the negative effects of sand and dust storms” through “international and regional co-operation.”
The glacier collapse in Nepal is yet another warning that a warming planet is making Himalayan disasters more frequent and destructive – but the countries facing the greatest risks are often those least responsible, says LI YANG
![Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks in front of a live map of smoke movement during a press conference updating media on ongoing forest fires in Ontario, in Toronto [Pic: Cole Burston/The Canadian Press via AP]](https://msd11.gn.apc.org/sites/default/files/styles/desktop/public/2026-07/8canadafire.jpg.webp?itok=9a8C3kap)
As Ontario burns, campaigners are demanding action – not more pipelines, says DAVE McKEE
Extreme heat is now one of the defining public health challenges of a warming world, explains Prof IAN WILLIAMS