UN Geneva Press Briefing: WMO, WHO, OCHA

Very good morning once again and thank you for joining us here at the regular press briefing here at the UN office at Geneva today, Tuesday, 11 August. We have, we heard from Mr. Khumjian, head of the independent investigative mechanism for Myanmar. Now we are going to shift to the heat waves. We have on the podium Claire Nullis of the World Meteorological Organization. Here with her is John Kennedy, the head of climate information. But before we go to John, I'll turn it over to you, Claire.

Yes, thank you everybody. So I will make introductory remarks and just round highlights of some of the facts at the moment, and then my colleague John Kennedy will go into more detail and explain why this is happening. So as we know, it's the month of August. If you look around, everywhere is pretty quiet. It's the height of the vacation season in Europe and other parts of the Northern Hemisphere. But many national meteorological and hydrological services Emergency managers and responders, health professionals are really working tirelessly because of all the extreme weather that we're seeing. And it's not just extreme heat. We're also seeing extreme rainfall, tropical cyclones. So, you know, we're not in holiday mode at all. Western Europe experienced its hottest June to July period on record, and I stress Western Europe, not the whole of Europe. This is according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. Globally, the month was the second joint warmest on record. What is really important is that sea surface temperatures were the highest ever recorded for the month of July. Again, this is according to Copernicus Climate Change Service. Some countries in Western Europe are now facing yet another heat wave, the fourth of the summer. Certainly, it's the fourth of the summer in Switzerland, in France, in other countries. And as we can all see from the photos, from the TV images and social media, intense drought is really biting. It's having a devastating impact on farmers, agriculture, harvests, on transport, on energy and also on river levels. And the heat and the drought, as my colleague will explain later, is combining to increase the risk of wildfires. Japan and the Republic of Korea were two of a number of Asian countries which saw exceptional record-breaking heat last week. Um, and we're also seeing, you know, temperature records, be they sta- uh, station temperature records or overnight temperature records or daytime temperature records, we're seeing these are broken in other parts of Asia, uh, the Middle East and Latin America. Uh, it's not all about heat. Uh, parts of West Africa are witnessing heavy monsoon rainfall and flooding. Um, the World Meteorological Organization, we produce a weekly hydromet scan, which we provide to, uh, the UN, uh, UNHCR and humanitarian agencies. And in the latest issue issued last week, it warned of very heavy rainfall with the risk of flash floods and landslides this week in northeast and west India, eastern Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, and some parts of southeast Asia. China conducted mass evacuations ahead of this weekend's landfall of Typhoon Dolphin, which is the 13th typhoon of the season. And certainly yesterday, the China Meteorological Administration had a lot of warnings in place for the risk of bad flooding. So where does the World Meteorological Organization come in to all of this? In addition to monitoring what's happening and our members monitoring what's happening, we are trying with our members to improve forecasts and early warnings, and this is why the Early Warnings for All campaign is our top overriding priority. Just to give you a few examples of what we can expect this week, and you will find in each case, you know, the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service will provide more details on its social media feeds on its website. Meteo France says nearly all of the country will see extremely high temperatures, many above 35 degrees Celsius from the middle of the week onwards. Meteo Suisse has also issued an amber level alert, which is the number three out of four, for high temperatures in not in all parts of the country, but in the parts of the country where the major cities are. The UK's Met Office says temperatures could reach up to 36 degrees later this week in parts of southern England. And these are just examples. It's a snapshot. Last week in Central Europe and the Balkans, numerous station and temperature records were broken, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, to name but a few. One commentator, he's a climatologist who's active on social media, he actually commented, you know, it's like a European cup of heat records. Uh, it's important to note it's not universal. Uh, there's been lower than average temperatures, higher than average rainfall across parts of Eastern Europe and in Scandinavia. Uh, moving on to wildfires, um, last month saw exceptional wildfire activity across Western Europe, and again, I stress Western Europe, in terms of the area burnt and the emissions. And fire emissions data provided by the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service show that for the year to date, 2026 emissions for France are comparable or higher than the extreme fire years of 2023 and 2022. And France is on course to have one of the most extreme fire years in the past 24 years. The data for Spain shows fire emissions to be well above average for this time of year. Fires are raging in parts of the western United States of America and in Canada, there, as of yesterday, there were 591 active fires. And of these, 43 were classed as being out of control. And these are figures from the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. That's it from me. I know there's a lot of detail in there. I'll send you the full briefing notes, hopefully before this briefing ends. And with that, I'll hand over to John Kennedy, who's head of climate information at the World Meteorological Organization. Thank you.

Thanks, Claire. So what we've seen over the last few months, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere, is the combined effect of the long-term warming with a persistent pattern of alternating high and low pressure systems, which stretch out across and around the Northern Hemisphere. And those high pressure areas are more typically associated with the high temperatures and dry conditions that have been leading to some of these high impact events. And the low pressure areas are typically cooler and wetter. So the reason we see heat associated with high pressure is that air accumulates and descends over areas of high pressure and that descending air warms and also makes clouds less likely to form, which lets in more sunlight and both of these contribute to higher temperatures under a high pressure system. High pressure also tends to block incursions of cooler air coming in from outside and they're often referred to as blocking highs for this reason. So these kinds of high pressure patterns that we're seeing can last days or even as we've seen this year, weeks. And in June, those areas of high pressure and associated high temperatures simultaneously affected Western Europe, North America and Central Asia. And in July and at the start of August, the same approximate areas were affected in addition to East Asia. So these areas of high pressure affected the seas as well as the land with marine heat waves around Western Europe and in the Arctic. and also in the North Pacific away from any kind of land heat waves. And according to the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service between January and the end of June, so the first half of the year, approximately 82% of the global ocean experienced marine heatwave conditions of varying intensity. It's the second largest extent observed after 2024. So in places that heat has been deadly and with the low rainfall combined with heat has led to drought, low river levels and an increased risk of wildfires as Claire has talked about. So in places the rainfall we've seen has been below average since the spring. Data from Copernicus for July show very dry soil in the Iberian Peninsula, France, the UK, parts of southern Germany as well as areas further to the east. And river flows have been low across the dry regions, for example the Seine. The Rhine and the Danube have also seen very low river levels. There have also, of course, been cooler and wetter areas associated with those low pressure parts of the pattern. However, because of the long-term warming, the cooler areas are not so cool as they would have been in the past and the warmer areas are warmer. So looking back in time, June 1976 is a really good example because June 1976 had a very similar pattern of high and low pressure, warmer and cooler areas to this year. But the picture for 1976 is one of a few isolated areas of above average temperatures in a much cooler world. And in 2026, the picture is reversed. It's one of a much warmer world with a few isolated areas of below average temperatures. Now, that same warming means that extreme heat is becoming more frequent, more intense, it's lasting longer and covering much wider areas than in the cooler climates of the past. As Claire said, sea surface temperatures outside the polar oceans were the highest on record in June and July, according to Copernicus data. This is corroborated by independent analyses from the UK and the US for June. And global surface temperatures over land and ocean in July were the joint second warmest for the month. There's another factor at play, which is El Nino, which is now well established in the Pacific. We expect to see a bump in global temperatures as El Nino is generally associated with higher global temperatures. peak in global temperatures tends to come after El Nino has peaked itself, which usually happens between November and January. Thanks.

Thank you both very much for those introductory remarks. And we'll turn over to you, colleagues, for your questions. Yes, we'll start off with AFP, then ARD. Go ahead.

Thank you. The conditions that we're seeing now in Western Europe, can we make the direct link with El Nino? And secondly, can we expect to see this more frequently? Can we expect to see this, if not every summer, then on a much more frequent basis than we do now? Thank you.

Okay, first with the link to El Nino, there's not clear link to El Nino for the temperatures over Western Europe during the summer. But in terms of what we can expect to see in the future, The IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, showed that extreme heat has been increasing in intensity, duration, and frequency, and that pattern will continue into the future as long as greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere.

Thank you so much. Okay, we'll take a question online from Olivia, Reuters.

Thanks so much. Yeah, really great to get the science behind what's happening. So thank you very much for this. My question actually just to dovetail off what my colleague AFP was asking about, to what extent El Nino is a factor. Yeah, actually, you just mentioned there that it doesn't seem to be a factor in Europe. Do you mind just explaining the science as to why that is and instead what you think it is that's driving these high temperatures and perhaps the link? therefore to climate change, et cetera, and extreme weather patterns. Thank you.

So El Nino, kind of this time of year is just getting going typically. So the kind of immediate impacts tend to be focused on the tropical Pacific and the surrounding land areas. Later in the year, as we move into autumn and winter, we do start to see some effects from El Nino over Europe. So it's a timing thing to a certain extent. In terms of what's driving the heat over Europe, we have the background warming from climate change. That's a very kind of clear signal, particularly, we can see that very clearly at a global level, but also that's kind of manifesting kind of almost across the whole globe. There are very few areas that haven't warmed consistently. But that's combining with the weather patterns that we're seeing, these kind of high and low pressure systems. So it's those two things coming together that are giving us the record heat.

Thank you so much.

Sorry, do you want to add anything on sea surface temperatures? Mediterranean sea surface temperatures are very high as well.

Sure. So lots of things contribute, I guess, to kind of exact kind of situation for a heat wave. So the Mediterranean has been incredibly warm as have the waters. to the west of Europe as well. We see marine heat waves and those marine heat waves also feed into the kind of heat we're seeing over land because they're providing the back part of the background warmth that this kind of high pressure systems are building on. In addition to that, with the dry soil, we're also seeing now, it's kind of generally the case, I should say, that when soil is wet, it's harder to warm up and as that soil dries out, it becomes much easier for the weather situation to warm land up and then warm the air up. So lots of these kind of factors are kind of coming together to give us the record heat that we're seeing this year.

Thank you so much. So did you have a question, ARD? I don't know, okay, I thought your hand was up earlier. Okay, we'll go back to you, Robin, and then we'll take a question online. Go ahead, Robin.

On the wildfires, What is the impact that this has on air quality and then the knock on from that, what is the impact that air quality has on people's everyday lives? Thank you.

So obviously wildfires produce a lot of smoke and that is bad for people's health, it kind of reduces air quality. not just locally, but also kind of over wider areas that smoke can blow around. But also when you get very intense fires, that smoke can be lofted higher into the atmosphere and have an effect over a much broader area.

Yeah, just to add on that, I don't know if anybody from WHO is online. So it's not just the immediate impact on health. If you look at the satellite imagery, as we've seen in North America this year, the smoke plumes do travel a long distance and they do affect air quality far away from the source. In early September, WMO will be releasing its annual air quality and climate bulletin and wildfires is a perennial feature of that.

Thanks so much. I think Tarek is connected, of course, not putting you on the spot there, but if you have anything to add to the health effects or health impact rather, just put your hand up. But let's take a question now from Antonio of Spanish news agency, Antonio.

Thank you. So my question is if there is data from WMO on the situation of the main navigable rivers in Europe, how the draft is affecting them, which rivers have had to suspend their navigation because we are seeing, for example, pictures of the bed of the Rhine River who are quite surprising.

Thank you. WMO don't have that information. I think there was some information provided by Copernicus Climate Change Service, which issued its report yesterday. But obviously, the -- and I'm just looking at it now, but obviously, they're saying the Danube, the Rhine are all among those impacted. the we we at WMO we work closely with the Southeast Europe drought monitoring center um just looking at their information um no I don't think they have the information on on river flows I can I can do some I can do some digging to see if I can find the the source for you on that. But I think what is worth stressing is that, you know, in some parts of Europe, the deficit is so big, it's been building up now for several months. You know, it's not going to take just one summer storm to replenish river levels and replenish soil moisture. And so to quote you from the Southeast European Drought Monitoring Center, and I quote you verbatim, and this is for the northwestern part of southeastern Europe, and it's saying, so especially, you know, Hungary, Serbia, and the Adriatic Sea, and it's saying, between 250 and 350 millimeters, which is a lot of additional precipitation would be needed to normalize the surface water balance deficit accumulated since April 2026. So it's been building. It's going to, even if we had normal rainfall starting immediately, it will take a long time to redress the balance. And as a further plug, so in September, the 17th of September, we, WMO will be releasing the State of Global Water Resources report. And although the report is for 2025, it will have information on long-term trends in river flow and groundwater. So stay tuned for that.

Thank you so much, Claire. And John, we do, oh, Antonio, is that a follow up? Go ahead.

Yeah, well, my question is because in the middle of this heat wave, tomorrow thousands of people will be outside regarding the total eclipse in countries like Spain. I don't know if WMO has some advice for that or is preparing something. Thank you.

So can you just repeat the start of the question? Didn't quite get it.

Yes, well, it's about the eclipse, the total eclipse that is in Spain and other parts of the world. Many people is going outside to the mountains to see that. And we are in the middle of in a heat wave and I don't know if it can have risks for the population. if WMO has some advice in these cases, thank you.

I know that national meteorological and hydrological services, certainly the Spanish one, are, they're posting a lot on social media about the eclipse. If it's hot, I think, you know, normal common sense advice should apply, you know, try to avoid the, you know, the heat at the peak in the afternoon, sunscreen, hat, drink lots, try to avoid excessive movement. So it's, you know, it'll be basic health. advice, but obviously with the eclipse and again, I don't know if WHO wants to say something, a lot of the advice is about the eyes and that's beyond our remit. I don't know if John wants to add anything. No? Okay.

Okay, sensible advice. I mean, I don't know if, Tarek, if you have anything to add from the WHO perspective, please do. Otherwise, I think the message is clear. Obviously, take precautions. Do we have further questions for our colleagues at WMO looking in the room, online? I don't see that's the case. So on that note, I'd like to thank you very, very much for your briefing, very thoughtful briefing. And yes.

And we should be sending the briefing notes out. If they haven't reached you now, they will do in the next few minutes.

Perfect. Thank you. We look forward to getting those. Thank you, Claire. Okay, colleagues, I think that's it for active briefers. No? Okay. You have something, Jens? Or okay. We have a change to the agenda. Jens is going to join us from OCHA. And I just had a few other announcements afterwards. So is this -- and I think -- Jens, the precious commodity. Yeah, so this is a last minute agenda shift. We're going to, Jens rather is going to address the earthquake in Colombia. So without further ado, over to you, Jens.

Thank you, Rolando. And good morning, everyone. A quick heads up on that because we have an update out, a flash update on the earthquake in Colombia that happened yesterday. We have that out overnight. I will send it to you. It's in Spanish only at the moment, but I'm sure you can either read that or get it translated. But just some highlights from what we have seen. The official data that we have on the impact is that 1,495 people have been injured and at least 126 have died. Those are official government figures. We know they are being updated as more information comes in. Nearly 5,000 homes have been damaged and 387 have been destroyed. 61 buildings have collapsed and more than 550 educational institutions, 24 health facilities and more than 350 community centers have affected. So quite a significant impact on civilian infrastructure there. The official reports also indicate that there are now limited access to essential services such as electricity, water supply, healthcare and connectivity in various cities. Likewise, 53 roads have been identified as affected across various areas of the country. The UN team is of course monitoring very, very closely. The OCHA team is monitoring very, very closely. That's why we have these reports. And the entire country team is meeting today to see how they can further support the national response of the Colombian authorities in any way, shape or form that may be requested, required or needed. So that's just a few updates from me on that disaster. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Jens. Uh, we do have a number of hands that have popped up online, just checking if there are any in the room. Nope. Okay. So let's go to the questions online for you, Antonio of EFE.

Uh, thank you. Well, yes, I wanted to ask about the earthquake in Colombia. I don't know if you have something else to add on how UN agencies are mobilizing to provide assistance and which are the most urgent needs right now. Thank you.

Right. Uh, thank you. As, as I mentioned, the entire country team is of course mobilized, uh, and they are in contact with the regional headquarters and headquarters, uh, and with us here, uh, in Geneva as well. The first thing that needs to happen is of course to, um, to get a proper assessment of exactly what has happened, exactly where the needs are, and exactly what is needed. That is work that is already, going on. We have some of that more granular information in our flash update from the country that I will share with you. For the moment, there has not been any official request for international assistance. That is just as I speak. That may, of course, change. Should that happen, the entire UN system and, of course, humanitarians in particular stand ready to support with everything we've got.

Thank you so much, Jens. Tarek, I see you opened your video, so maybe you want to chime in on this point. Go ahead.

Yeah, thank you very much. And as you asked me about the wildfires, I may add something at the end on that as we have a good fact sheet. But just to add what I got from our colleagues in the regional office, WHO, last night on the health aspect. So as of last night, Geneva time, damage has been reported 24 health facilities across six departments, and that Valle del Cauca has experienced the most significant health infrastructure impacts, particularly in the city of Cali. Key facilities affected include Hospital Universitario del Valle, where part of a tower housing cardiology and pediatric services collapsed, and Clinica Nuestra, which was fully evacuated. Damage to water systems has also affected health facilities, creating additional operational challenges. Now, public health concerns that we have is really first to ensure continuity of essential health services, and that is a priority, as well as to look into damage to water, sanitation, hygiene infrastructure that may affect health facility operations and increase public health risks. Uh, now continued aftershocks present ongoing safety concerns to health workers, patients, and critical infrastructure. As, as Jens said, although the international assistance has not, uh, been, uh, requested, uh, our office in the country in Colombia activated its emergency response mechanism. And its field teams and teams have been deployed to affected areas, including Cali and Choco to support health sector assessment and coordination. Now, the government of Colombia has declared a national disaster and activated national emergency response mechanisms. Ministry of Health and the National Institute of Health have activated their emergency operation centers. And they are right now conducting rapid assessments and coordinating search and rescue operations. They do medical evacuations and emergency health response activities. And yes, as Jens said, we stand ready to provide assistance. I will send this in notes as well so you have these numbers.

That's very helpful. Thank you so much, Tarek. Yes, Robin, AFP.

Thank you, Jens. One thing that often goes down in these situations is the communications network. Is the communications network up and running for your team and for the humanitarian response? And secondly, on funding, although there's not been a request yet for international assistance, are you preparing for a funding response? And in light of that, given the cuts that have happened, is there money in the bank? Thank you.

Thank you very much. The last one, first, funding, let's see what the assessments and the needs are and so on and so forth, and whether there will be any form of kind of international response in addition to what's already there, I want to add. on that. In terms of comms, it is sporadic what I have the information. We know that often happens in earthquakes that some networks go down, then they come up again and so on and so forth. We have not had reports from our team that that's a significant issue in terms of coordinating among ourselves and, you know, being in touch with, uh, with the authorities where they are, uh, and what they need. So that has not been flagged, uh, as a concern. I just want to add, uh, one thing just to be crystal clear. We, we mentioned that the assessments are, are already, uh, on, ongoing by the authorities. And the main needs that have been reported up to now for which urgent complementary response, meaning UN-supported response, is required, those needs are related to safe drinking water, hygiene kits, household kits, healthcare, and food assistance.

Thank you very much, Jens. Okay, let's see if there are other questions. I don't See that's the case. And of course, colleagues, it goes without saying that Secretary General, we express our thoughts and condolences to all those who have suffered. You mentioned 126 thus far have died. Of course, this is a moving story, so we'll keep you updated. Sorry, actually we have one more question. Sorry, Olivia, Reuters.

Thanks. This is actually on a separate topic for Tarek, please.

Sure.

It's a Cuba-related question. Okay. But not the not Colombia-related.

Sure. Okay. Why don't you pose your question since we've finished on Colombia? So over back to you, Olivia. Go ahead.

Thank you. Yes, Tarek, it's just a question, please, for you, seeking the World Health Organization's reaction to the US President Donald Trump signing of an executive order yesterday calling for fewer childhood vaccinations, limiting the inoculation schedule to 11 immunizations. He said this would give US children gold standard protection, kindly seeking the WHO's view on that, please.

Thanks, Olivia. As you know, we have been discussing vaccines many times. And for more than 60 years, WHO and other global health experts, and you know, for example, the SAGE, Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, and national authorities have intensively studied disease transmission, the safety of vaccines, and the way they protect people from disease. The immunization schedule is a plan that shows when children, adolescents, and adults should get their vaccines. It is developed by medical experts who assess how diseases spreads, who gets sick most often, and at what ages. This has shaped global guidance on what vaccines people need, when they need them, and how many doses are most effective and meet the highest safety standards. Now, based on extensive reviews of scientific information, WHO issues vaccine position papers, you have probably seen some of them, that explain key facts about each disease, the vaccines available to prevent the disease, including their safety evidence, and WHO's recommendations on the timing of each dose. Every vaccine is recommended at the time it offers the best protection against serious illness. This can mean one type of vaccine is needed at birth, while another is needed in adolescence. Timing of each dose is based on years of research across the world on how the immune system develops, when a person is most susceptible for disease, and how to keep protection strong. Now, how does it work in practice? In nearly all countries, there is a national immunization technical advisory groups who These groups make all policy recommendation and sets national immunization schedules. Now, these expert groups at national level rely on the normative and strategic guidance on existing and new vaccines from WHO strategic advisory group of experts, SAGE, on the immunization to inform their decision at the national level. So these advisory groups should be made-up of multidisciplinary experts who provide independent, evidence-based guidance to policymakers and immunization program managers. So in one word, really, Olivia, this is all science-based, what comes out from WHO, and this is the advice we give to all countries, and we hope that all countries will use this best scientific evidence that we have, and we have to always stress that. the science does evolve, uh, to, to make their immunization programs for their citizens.

Thank you so much, Tarek. Thank you. Uh, Olivia, is that okay? Further questions or anyone else for that matter? I don't see that's the case, so thanks again, Tarek, for that.

If I may just go back to the question of wildfires, we have a really good fact sheet, and I really invite everyone to look at it. So wildfires, wildfire smoke is a mixture of air pollutants, and one of them is particulate matter, that is a PM, and you hear about PM. PM index quite often, and that's a principal public health threat. So, PM from wildfire smoke is associated with premature deaths in the general population and can cause and exacerbate diseases of the lungs, heart, brain, nervous system, skin, gut, kidney, eyes, nose, and liver. It has been shown that it can lead to cognitive impairment and memory loss, and therefore firefighters and emergency responders Workers are also greatly impacted by injuries, burns, and smoke inhalation, particularly at a high, uh, concentration, so, uh, I, I may, I may, as I will send some of my notes, I will add, uh, add few, uh, few lines on this as well, it is important. to stress that wildfire is not only immediate health danger, but it can have long lasting health consequences as these particles get deep into lungs and can cause different diseases.

Thank you, Tarek. Indeed, very important and much appreciated. Thank you very much for adding that comment on the previous subject. So I think that does it for our briefers. Let me just highlight a couple of things happening here in Geneva. We have a couple of committees happening going on right now with Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, CERD. This morning they are finalizing its review of Kuwait. This afternoon it'll start with the reviewing the report from India, and then tomorrow Honduras. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is also meeting and today, or rather they, rather not meeting yet, they will start tomorrow, their 35th session in fact, where, during which they will, the committee will review the reports of Qatar, Sri Lanka, Lithuania, Chile and Slovenia. Another meeting happening now as we speak in Room 12 is a conference on disarmament, and the plenary meeting is discussing various agenda items, among them new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons, radiological weapons, comprehensive program of disarmament, and transparency in armament. So lots of very interesting agenda items at the Conference on Disarmament taking place now in Room 12. While not here, but on the other side of the pond, Security Council, just to mention, is holding a meeting this afternoon on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. 00 AM New York time, 4:00 PM our time. And tomorrow, looking ahead, tomorrow, the 12th of August, is International Youth Day, and this is an opportunity to celebrate the creativity, dynamism, and leadership of young people everywhere, the Secretary-General says in his message, which we've shared with you. Now, this year's theme is, quote, "Different Contexts, Common Aspirations," end quote. Now this theme reflects a simple truth, that is despite their many differences, young people across the globe share similar hopes for dignity, participation, and opportunity. So I would encourage you to read that message, which is available in multiple languages. Now just also to note that ahead of tomorrow's Youth Day, yesterday we, the Department of Global Communications, issued a brief of Children, Youth, and Information Integrity. It was launched yesterday. It's the third of the department's issue briefs on strengthening information integrity. And this particular brief comes at a, it's very timely in that it follows up to the Secretary General's recent call for an AI child safety pledge, which covers any system child, covering any system of a child is able to reach. The brief applies the UN global principles for information integrity to the specific risks and opportunities facing children and youth online. It's a very important brief, which we're happy to share with you. There's a press release to accompany that. So I just wanted to make sure you saw that, as it's one of our priorities to tackle this issue. So I See there's a hand up. Is that for me or for another briefer, Paula online?

Yeah, hi, good morning. I just had a question about, there's this AI for developing countries forum that's taking place tomorrow at the Assembly Hall. Just wondering if we can access that with our passes?

I'll have to get back to you on that, Paula. That's taking place here in the assembly hall here.

Yes.

Okay. Okay.

It's hard till Friday. And there was, we had, I mean, we received, I think, invitations to register for that. But I, yeah, given that it's in the, at the Palais de Nation. whether we could just access it with our passes?

Normally, if it's taking place, if there's a meeting that is public taking place here, you should be able to get in with your badge. But let me just dig deeper and find out more about this. And if there's anything I can share about this meeting, I will drop a note and we'll add something in our summary of this briefing. So thanks for the question. I don't see further questions for me, so I wish you a good afternoon, and we'll see you here on Friday. Thanks.