A UN biodiversity meeting this month failed to reach an agreement on funding. The world is far from ready for the "calamity" caused by climate change and must urgently prepare for even worse in the future, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday.

Global efforts to adapt to climate change—from building defensive sea walls to growing drought-resistant crops—have not kept pace as global warming accelerates the frequency and intensity of disasters. (Agence France-Presse, more at ndtv.com)