The United Nations’ World Urbanisation Prospects 2025 was published on 17 November 2025. Drawing on data from the Joint Research Centre’s Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL), developed under the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS), the report tracks changes in population distribution across more than 12,000 urban settlements. It...

Urbanisation is reshaping the world at a pace which has surpassed earlier expectations, altering how people live and how societies plan for housing, transport, and essential services.

Torrential rainfall associated with Cyclone Ditwah, which made landfall on Sri Lanka’s eastern coast on 28 November 2025, resulted in extensive flooding across the country. The event caused at least 410 casualties, with 336 people reported missing. The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) was activated (EMSR851) to assess the extent...

Cyclone Senyar formed during the night of 25-26 November 2025 in the Strait of Malacca, an area in which tropical cyclones had not been recorded for decades. The day after its formation, Senyar hit Indonesia, where it made landfall, causing flooding, landslides and more than 400 casualties in the north of the island of Sumatra.  This image,...

On 17 October 2025, one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites acquired this image of Cluj-Napoca, a major urban centre in north-western Romania. Surrounded by rolling hills and agricultural land, the city is noted for its dynamic growth and strategic role in regional development. Cluj-Napoca also received the label of the EU Mission for...