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KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Nearly 200 nations have reached a deal, announced Saturday morning after all-night negotiations, to limit the use of greenhouse gases far more powerful than carbon dioxide in a major effort to fight climate change. The talks on hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, were called the first test of global will since the historic Paris Agreement to cut carbon emissions was reached last year. HFCs are described as the world's fastest-growing climate pollutant and are used in air conditioners and refrigerators. Experts say cutting them is the fastest way to reduce global warming. President Barack Obama, in a statement...

Death sentences for terrorism are often handed down after unfair trials by special courts that disrespect human rights and the rule of law, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday in remarks commemorating World Day Against the Death Penalty. While 65 countries retain the death penalty for terrorism-related offenses, experience shows that executing “terrorists” mostly fuels propaganda for their movements by creating perceived martyrs, Ban said. “The death penalty is a cruel and inhumane practice. It has no place in the 21st Century,” Ban said. “To be legitimate and effective, counter-terror measures, like all security operations, must be anchored in...

“Now that you’re done with finals, help us meet the climate change test,” United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told Columbia University graduates last week. […] “Don’t vote for politicians who deny the problem,” he said. “Don’t buy products that aren’t sustainable. And for heaven’s sake, turn off the lights!” …

The U.N. chief is taking aim at sexual abuse by peacekeepers, “one of my greatest disappointments,” saying he will repatriate the troops of countries that don’t act on allegations and has already started to suspend payments to countries when allegations are credible. Ban Ki-moon’s statements are in response to the first comprehensive assessment of peacekeeping in 15 years and largely agree with a high-level panel’s suggestions for a major overhaul. The U.N. has more than 105,000 troops and police in 16 missions in some of the world’s most dangerous places. Member states contribute the personnel and receive monthly payments in...

More than five years after President Obama and other leaders agreed on a 2020 goal of raising $100 billion each year from public and private sources to help developing countries deal with climate change, the United Nations wants to see action. Ahead of Earth Day on Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is pointing to a meeting next month in New York where he says he will be looking for clear indications from governments and investors as to how the ambitious goal will be reached.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is urging Pakistan’s leader to stop the execution of convicts and re-impose a moratorium on the death penalty. […] In the wake of the Pakistani Taliban school massacre on Dec. 16 that killed 149 people, most of them students, the government reinstated the death penalty and has already executed six people. …

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon predicted on Monday that the “momentum” of countries recognizing the “state of Palestine” will grow. Ban, who spoke before a UN committee on Palestinian rights, urged Israel and the Palestinian Authority to "step back from the brink" and return to peace talks. "The Israeli and Palestinian people face a shared fate on shared land. There is no erasing the other," Ban said, according to the AFP news agency. "Governments and parliaments are taking action. That momentum will grow," said Ban, referring to recent moves by governments in Europe to recognize “Palestine”. British lawmakers voted overwhelmingly...

GENEVA (AFP) – The world is speeding towards a climate catastrophe, UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned on Thursday, urging rapid progress in talks to cut emissions and tackle global warming. "Our foot is stuck on the accelerator and we are heading towards an abyss," the UN Secretary General said in a speech to the World Climate Conference. Ban, who this week visited the Arctic to witness first hand the changes wrought by global warming, warned that many of the "more distant scenarios" predicted by scientists were "happening now." "Scientists have been accused for years of scaremongering. But the real scaremongers...