Storytelling has the power to inspire action, and when celebrities and influencers use their platforms for climate advocacy, the impact can reach audiences across the globe.

In September at UN Headquarters in New York, actor and UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Nikolaj Coster-Waldau shared his experiences of visiting UN Development Programme (UNDP) initiatives for his Bloomberg TV series, An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet.

Joining him in the the SDG Media Zone was UNDP India Youth Climate Champion Prajakta Koli. Moderator Alyssa Hardy, Style Director at Teen Vogue, asked Mr. Coster-Waldau why, despite the severity of the climate crisis, there is still reason to be hopeful.

Watch the full SDG Media Zone session here.

Space exploration and the use of space technology is becoming an increasingly critical part of the global economy, but how can the world ensure its benefits are felt, not just in the developed world but also in poorer and less technologically advanced developing countries?

The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) was established for that exact reason and more particularly to accelerate sustainable development globally.

It has just announced its UN Champion for Space, the internationally acclaimed broadcaster and physicist Professor Brian Cox who’s been speaking to UN News’ Lid is On podcast.

Wind and solar energy are now the cheapest sources of energy, bringing cleaner air, stronger communities, and new economic opportunities. In September at UN Headquarters in New York, the SDG Media Zone hosted a discussion highlighting the momentum of the clean energy transition, and how expanding access to wind and solar can improve public health, create jobs, and accelerate economic growth.

The talk featured Jamie Henn of Fossil Free Media, activist and artist Antonique Smith, and Emerson Clark from the Global Wind Energy Council.

The moderator, Melina Waling of the Associated Press, asked Mr Clark for his thoughts on the speech made by US President Donald Trump at General Assembly high-level week, in which he declared that climate change is “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.”

Watch the full SDG Media Zone session here.

Music: "Rise and Shine," Audiobinger

Too often, coordinated misinformation campaigns are amplified and monetized via digital advertising, hampering efforts to address the climate crisis.

In the lead up to the November COP30 UN Climate Conference in Belém Brazil, the SDG Media Zone turned the spotlight on this pressing challenge, bringing together UN Senior Adviser on Information Integrity, Charlotte Scaddan; Jacob Dubbins, Co-Chair of the Conscious Advertising Network; and Rupen Desai, Chief Marketing Officer at Una Terra. 

Watch the full SDG Media Zone session here.

Music: "Rise and Shine," Audiobinger

At UN Headquarters in New York, Karla Quintana, head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria (IIMP), has warned that time is running out to find the hundreds of thousands who disappeared during the country’s long conflict. “Everyone in Syria knows someone who has gone missing,” Ms. Quintana told UN News.In conversation with Ezzat El-Ferri, she underscored that the search must be Syrian-led and internationally supported, driven by the families who have long fought to learn the truth about their loved ones.

Music: ‘Rise and Shine’ by Audiobinger

Secretary-General’s September 2025 report on the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria: https://docs.un.org/en/A/80/359

Like many island economies, Dominica experiences high youth unemployment, and recent events, in particular Hurricane Maria and the COVID-19 pandemic, have combined to make the search for work even harder.

A UN-backed initiative designed to improve the employment options for young Dominicans, Work Online Dominica, has been successful in helping them to overcome the barriers they face on a small, remote island.

Conor Lennon from UN News met aspiring photographer Josiah Johnson, a graduate of the programme, in Dominica’s capital, Roseau, to find out how he, and other young people, have benefited from Work Online Dominica. 

Caribbean island nations are vulnerable to a host of extreme weather events, from hurricanes to floods and droughts, that are becoming more dangerous and intense as a result of the climate emergency.

UN News met with three of the most prominent young climate activists on Trinidad & Tobago, and learned of their frustration with current environmental legislation, and what they are doing to raise awareness of the crisis.

Conor Lennon spoke to Priyanka Lalla, a teenage climate activist and UNICEF Youth Advocate for the eastern Caribbean, Joshua Prentice, a climate and ocean scientist, and Zaafia Alexander the 18-year-old founder of an environmental NGO.

Dominica may have found a solution to cover all of its electricity needs, and even sell electricity abroad, without burning fossil fuels: geothermal energy. This power source is 100 per cent clean, cheap and practically limitless.

Conor Lennon from UN News meets Vince Henderson, Dominica’s Minister for Economic Development and Sustainable Energy, and Fred John, CEO of the Dominica Geothermal Development Company to find out if the country really is on its way to a clean energy future.

Small Island Developing States are particularly vulnerable to plastic pollution. As well as coping with a tsunami of waste washes up on their beaches every day, these countries – which are generally highly dependent on imports – generate a large amount of plastic waste of their own, and often struggle to manage it.

Plastic pollution has a detrimental effect on the health and livelihoods of people living in small island states, which often lack the means to effectively treat and process it. It’s not great for the economy either: tourists don’t want to hang out on dirty beaches, and marine litter can damage fishing stocks. 

Conor Lennon from UN News went to Trinidad to see how the UN is working with civil society and the government to not only deal with the waste, but also find a way to reuse it, and take it out of the environment.

In Kosovo, where tensions remain high between the ethnic Albanian and ethnic Serb communities, the United Nations is leading efforts to promote open communication and dialogue.

The UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) was established in 1999, well before the declaration of independence in 2008, and today plays a central role in promoting peace and security, and respect for human rights, in a region where memories of the wars of the late Twentieth Century, fought between the countries of the former Yugoslavia, are still fresh for many who suffered directly or lost loved ones.

On 22 April, Caroline Ziadeh, the head of UNMIK, briefed the Security Council on the current situation in Kosovo, and the ongoing tensions between the Albanian speaking and ethnic Serb population. After the briefing, she came into the UN News studios to explain that, despite the considerable difficulties, progress in bringing together the two communities is far from impossible.