‘Direct existential threat’ of climate change nears point of no return

The world risks crossing the point of no return on climate change, with disastrous consequences for people across the planet and the natural systems that sustain them, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned, calling for more leadership and greater ambition for climate action, to reverse course.

The pledge made by world leaders in the Paris Agreement three years ago to stop temperature rising by less than 2-degree-Celsius and working to keep the increase as close as possible to 1.5-degree-Celsius, “were really the bare minimum to avoid the worst impacts of climate change,” said Secretary-General Guterres, in a landmark speech on climate action, at UN Headquarters in New York.

“The mountain in front of us is very high but it is not insurmountable. We know how to scale it,” he continued.

“Put simply, we need to put the brake on deadly greenhouse gas emissions and drive climate action,” he added, calling for a shift away from the dependency on fossil fuels towards cleaner energy and away from deforestation to more efficient use of resources.

In his message, Mr. Guterres highlighted the huge economic costs of climate change and the opportunities presented by climate action.

Underscoring that important strides are being made, the UN chief highlighted the imperative to speed up these transitions.

“And for that to happen, the leaders of the world need to step up. The private sector, of course, is poised to move, and many are doing so.

Mr. Guterres further announced that in September 2019, he will convene a Climate Summit to bring climate action to the top of the international agenda.

The Summit, he said, will focus on the heart of the problem – the sectors that create the most emissions and the areas where building resilience could make the biggest difference – as well as provide leaders and partners the opportunity to demonstrate real climate action and showcase their ambition.

“I am calling on all leaders to come to next year’s Climate Summit prepared to report not only on what they are doing, but what more they intend to do when they convene in 2020 for the UN climate conference and where commitments will be renewed and surely ambitiously increased,” he said.

Original source: UN News
Published on 10 September 2018