In the time-honored tradition of climate summits, COP28 wrapped up in overtime in Dubai Dec. 13, after frantic late-night horse-trading secured a deal that divided opinion. For some, the so-called "UAE Consensus" that agrees to "transition away from fossil fuels" is a historic first commitment (albeit vague and non-binding) to eliminate the main cause of climate change. For many climate activists and other sceptics, however, it represents a baby step on a marathon that requires a flat-out sprint. Arguably of greater import was the agreement to launch a loss and damage fund, after a hard year of talks. COP28 also agreed on a first Global Stocktake: an assessment of climate progress to date, and a roadmap for what still needs to be done—it calls, for example, for a tripling of renewable energy capacity.

Globally, there have been resounding calls for a long-term ceasefire to bring an end to more than two months of bloodshed and a spiralling humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. Nearly 19,000 people have now been killed by Israel's bombardment and ground invasion, according to the health ministry in the enclave, and over 80% of the 2.3 million people who live in Gaza have been displaced from their homes. While the United States has continued to support Israel's war effort (including through weapons sales), cracks have emerged as Israel has apparently paid little heed to US calls to try to limit civilian casualties and allow more access for humanitarian aid. Israel has said its fighting against Hamas could last months. With aid agencies already struggling to operate, the impact of a prolonged war on a population squeezed into a sliver of southern Gaza—and suffering from food shortages and outbreaks of disease—is hard to imagine.

In the two months since Israel began bombarding and laying total siege to Gaza, around 85% of the 2.3 million people who live in the coastal enclave have been displaced from their homes, according to the UN. More than 17,000 people have been killed—around 70% of them women and children—and many others are missing and presumed to be trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings, according to the Gaza Health Ministry; the enclave's healthcare system is barely functional; and a rapid food security assessment found that nearly everyone now goes to bed hungry, and most have gone entire days without food. An Israeli ground invasion, which began Oct. 27 and is expanding into southern Gaza, is squeezing hundreds of thousands of displaced into smaller and smaller areas. Humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza have essentially ground to a halt, and UN officials have repeatedly warned that nowhere is safe. Amid these extreme conditions, "civil order is breaking down," the Gaza director of the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, warned, while Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA's commissioner-general, said: "We are reaching the point of no return."

The ruling junta in Niger has ended a military partnership with the EU, pulling the plug on a mission that provided training and equipment for Nigerien security forces battling jihadists. Authorities have also repealed a 2015 law—adopted under EU pressure—that sought to curb migration to Europe. The diplomatic rupture is linked to the EU's refusal to engage with the junta, which toppled the bloc's close partner, Mohamed Bazoum, in July. Russian officials have visited Niamey in recent days, signing documents to strengthen military cooperation. Russian support for other Sahelian armies has led to massive rights abuses, yet the EU's track record is hardly glowing. The bloc spent large sums on the Nigerien security forces but lacked programs to prevent army abuses—an oversight that played into the hands of jihadists. Its migration policies, meanwhile, resulted in Niamey criminalizing the economy of the northern smuggling hub of Agadez, all while endangering migrant lives.

For the first time, the UN's annual climate change conference is putting a spotlight on the overlap between conflict and the climate crisis, and on the pressing need to address its neglected humanitarian consequences.

As COP28 begins in Dubai, the urgency for more climate financing to be directed to conflict settings—and the challenges of getting that money into the hands of the people who need it most—are on full display in opposition-held northwest Syria. A years-long drought is compounding the suffering caused by ongoing conflict, earthquakes that struck the region earlier this year, and the longer-term effects of 12-and-a-half years of civil war.

Burkina Faso's humanitarian and security challenges are worsening as the country's junta-led government pursues an aggressive military campaign against jihadist armed groups, which have extended their control to around 40% of the national territory. The country has faced jihadist attacks since 2015, but fatalities and humanitarian needs have hit record highs since army Captain Ibrahim Traoré seized power from a different junta last year, and then began a "total war" against the insurgents.

Last month, Kenya's President William Ruto announced that the El Niño climate phenomenon, which has historically brought devastating flooding to the country, would not occur this year, contradicting weeks of warnings from meteorologists. Today, across the country, at least 60 people have died, over 50,000 more have been displaced, and 221 acres of  farmland are under water as heavy rains associated with El Niño lash the region. The impact has been acutely felt in the northeast, where entire towns have been submerged. And it could be even worse in neighboring Somalia, where nearly 1.2 million people have been affected, prompting the country to declare an emergency and the UN's emergency aid coordination body, OCHA, to release $25 million to help it prepare for worse to come. The World Meteorological Organization predicts that this El Niño will last until at least April 2024, and the Food and Agriculture Organization in Somalia is projecting a once-in-a-century magnitude flood event.

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are ousting the army from military bases across the western Darfur region, leading to fears the country will be split in a similar way to neighboring Libya, which is ruled by rival governments. Even as the RSF has engaged in talks with the army in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, the group has launched attacks on the capitals of three of Darfur's five states, leading to mass displacement and large civilian casualties. Last month, it took full control over Nyala and Zalingei (the capitals of South Darfur and Central Darfur), while last week it seized the main army base in West Darfur's El Geneina. Over 1,000 people from the Masalit ethnic group were reportedly killed by RSF and allied militia fighters during the West Darfur takeover, which may amount to the worst civilian atrocity since Sudan's current war erupted on April 15. RSF leaders are now threatening to seize El Fasher in North Darfur, which has been a safe haven in recent months, and has attracted hundreds of thousands of displaced people.