Global Community

Special Accreditation Now Open — 2026 United Nations Water Conference (SDG 6)

A special accreditation process is ongoing for the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, convened to accelerate implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).

Relevant NGOs, civil society organizations, academic institutions, scientific bodies, private sector entities and philanthropic organizations whose work aligns with the objectives of the Conference and who:

- Do NOT hold consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC);
- Were NOT accredited to previous UN Conferences; and
- Did NOT receive special accreditation through the first open call (early 2025);

Must obtain special accreditation in order to participate as observers in both the Conference and its preparatory meeting.

Interested organizations are invited to submit their applications by 31 March 2026 via the official portal below:

https://dgccso.un.org/Event-Details/?evtid=17b679c0-4eed-ef11-9342-000d…

Great Green Wall in China -- I'm sharing a video titled "How China turned the desert into green forests" with an impressive story about ecosystems transformation with a large-scale master-planned forestation over vast desert lands to combat desertification in China. I've learned a bit everytime when I read info about this "Great Green Wall" project, and hope you'll enjoy this one. I'm spreading it as part of my actions to take part in the UN World Soil Day 2025. The link goes: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/how-china-turned-the-desert-into-g…

SKYWARN actions kickoff on Skywarn Recognition Day 2025 --
Today, December 6, is the SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) in the US. While the NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) cancelled the SRD 2025, as a registered Official Skywarn Spotter and a SciStarter participant in the SKYWARN citizen science project stationed at the Arcadia Ecohome in the foothill community of Arcadia, California, I'm taking on a weeklong voluntarily sky-watch of the San Gabriel Mountains, a desert mountain range just north of Arcadia, as part of my actions to take part in the celebrations of both the 2025 SRD on December 6, the first Saturday of December, and International Mountain Day on December 11, along with reporting and advocacy activities such as this writeup. Monitoring the sky over desert mountains in Southern California where unusual winter wildfires have occurred in recent years, such as the devastating ones in January 2025, driven by extreme drought and heat after wet years and strong Santa Ana winds, is becoming critical in the era of climate new normal with hazardous windstorms and firestorms for our attentions and actions as members of the Skywarn Weather Spotters Network and the Fire Adapted Communities Network (FAC Net).