The world is facing “a grave climate emergency”, Secretary-General António Guterres told a climate meeting in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital of Abu Dhabi urging all participants to “seize this opportunity to take bold climate action”.
“Climate disruption is happening now, and it is happening to all of us”, he warned. “It is progressing even faster than the world’s top scientists have predicted”.
The UN chief lamented that it is “outpacing our efforts to address it” with each week bringing “new climate-related devastation” from floods, droughts, heatwaves, wildfires and superstorms.
Because of climate change, “all around the world, people are losing their homes and being forced to migrate”, he informed the meeting, adding that the situation “will only get worse unless we act now with ambition and urgency”.
“It is plain to me that we have no time to lose,” Mr. Guterres said. “Sadly, it is not yet plain to all the decision makers that run our world.”
Even more worrying, he continued, “is that many countries are not even keeping pace with their promises under the Paris Agreement.”
The Abu Dhabi meeting, which is in preparation for the September Summit, aims to take stock of progress across all the areas that the Summit is looking to promote, from industrial transition to nature-based solutions to climate finance for both mitigation and adaptation.
Original source: UN News
Published on 30 June 2019
