The UN secretary-general said the time had come for “a serious discussion” on climate change and for taking “meaningful action” against the damage already done, especially in developing countries.
António Guterres was speaking this Wednesday during a meeting with several leaders of developed and developing countries, including the president of Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, a country that will host the UN climate change conference COP27 in November.
“The time has come for serious discussion and meaningful action on this issue,” Guterres insisted.
“My messages were clear. On the climate emergency: the 1.5°C target [graus Celsius] is connected to the fan. And failing fast,” said the Portuguese.
Referring to the target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era, set in the Paris Agreement in 2015, Guterres warned that the world is “on track” towards 3°C warming.
The UN leader asked governments to attack “four urgent problems” head-on, before COP27: set more ambitious emissions reduction goals, help the most vulnerable countries, adapt and seek financing for the impacts and deal with “as Loss and damage.”
This last point, a crucial element in the climate negotiations, refers to the damage already caused by the multiplication of extreme weather events, for which developing countries demand compensation from the richest states.
“I hope that COP27 in Egypt will address” the issue, added the UN secretary general, defending that it is an issue of “climate justice, international solidarity and confidence building.”
At the previous United Nations climate change conference, COP26 in Glasgow, at the end of 2021, rich countries rejected demands from developing states for specific financing to compensate for losses and damage already caused.
This week, a group of developing countries, meeting in Dakar, made the same claim again, calling for the creation of a “financing mechanism” to deal with the damage caused by climate change.
Another objective set in Paris, in 205, was the reduction of polluting gas emissions by 45% by 2030. At Wednesday’s meeting, António Guterres urged the G20 leaders to end dependence on fossil fuels.
“The fossil fuel industry is killing us and the leaders are not in sync with the citizens,” warned the UN leader, who called for “the elimination of existing coal and support for the renewable energy revolution.”
Source: TSF
