All publications and documents

The world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030. At the global level, none of the 18 indicators “met or almost met” the targets and only one is “close to target”. At the current rate of progress, it is estimated that it will take up to 286 years to close gaps in leg al protection and remove discriminatory laws, 140 years for women to be represented equally in positions of power and…

Billions of people still lack access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene, despite improvement in the provision of these basic services. Water scarcity is a growing problem in many parts of the world, and conflicts and climate change are exacerbating the issue. In addition, water pollution is a significant challenge which affects both human health and the environment in many countries…

Access to electricity and clean cooking fuels has improved in many parts of the world, but 675 million people are yet to be connected to the grids and 2.3 billion are still cooking with unsafe and polluting fuels. The war in Ukraine and global economic uncertainty continue to cause significant volatility in energy prices, leading some countries to raise investments in renewables and others to…

Drought Finance Tracker. The FAO Land and Water Division developed a new global tool to track drought finance at country level. The lack of a consistent, comprehensive, and dedicated reporting system is one of the major barriers to assessing the status of drought finance. Over the past 20 years, however, official development assistance has been monitored and registered by the…

A clean energy system will require up to twice as much land and up to 10% more water than the existing fossil fuel system – but these needs could be met multiple times over by fixing the agricultural system. That is the conclusion of a new analysis from the Energy Transitions Commission (ETC), published to debunk myths relating to the impact of a clean energy system on nature, land availability…

A Q&A on the fashion industry's toxic chemicals problem — and how we can protect ourselves.Modern clothing is a technological marvel — it’s brighter than ever, more flame-resistant, more water-repellent. It’s also often toxic. The properties we’ve come to know and expect stem from fossil fuel-derived chemicals that, according to a growing body of research, are making people sick.