Act now to end food, energy and finance crisis, Guterres urges world leaders.

Ripple effects from the war in Ukraine have generated a severe cost-of-living crisis which no country or community can escape, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday at a press conference to launch the latest report on the conflict's impacts on food security, energy, and financing.

An estimated 1.6 billion people in 94 countries are exposed to at least one dimension of the crisis, with around 1.2 billion living in 'perfect-storm' countries severely vulnerable to all three dimensions, the policy brief by the Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG) has revealed.

The report calls for stabilizing record-high food and fuel prices, implementing social safety nets, and increasing financial support to developing countries

'A new reality'

The UN chief said the message is clear and insistent: countries must act now to save lives and livelihoods.

'Three months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we face a new reality,' he told reporters.

'For those on the ground, every day brings new bloodshed and suffering. And for people around the world, the war is threatening to unleash an unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution, leaving social and economic chaos in its wake.'

Furthermore, the crisis is amplifying the consequences of other challenges confronting countries, such as the climate emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic, and inequalities in resources for post-pandemic recovery.

The increase in hunger since the start of the war could be higher and more widespread, according to the report.

The number of severely food insecure people doubled from 135 million prior to the pandemic, to 276 million over just two years. The ripple effects of the war could push this number to 323 million.

'Race against time'

UN trade chief Rebeca Grynspan, who co-leads the GCRG stream on finance, presented the report. She said the world is in 'a race against time', and inaction will be more costly than finding solutions.

The cost-of-living crisis could spark a 'cycle of social unrest leading to political instability', she warned.

Some 60 per cent of workers worldwide have already lower real incomes than before the pandemic, meaning families are having to choose whether to skip meals, keep children in school, or pay medical bills, for example.

'The current food crisis may rapidly turn into a food catastrophe of global proportions in 2023,' said Ms. Grynspan, head of the UN trade and development agency, UNCTAD.

Higher energy costs and trade restrictions on the...