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United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Monday that “unless we collectively change course, there is a high risk of failure” at the much-anticipated United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, in Scotland, scheduled for early November.
Speaking to reporters at UN headquarters in New York after a closed-door meeting of national leaders to discuss climate policy, Guterres noted that the commitments of individual nations remain far less ambitious than what is needed to achieve the objectives set out in the last major climate negotiations in Paris in 2015.
“Based on the current commitments of member states, the world is on a catastrophic 2.7 degree trajectory [Celsius] heating, instead of 1.5, we all agreed that should be the limit, ”Guterres said. “To limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, we need a 45% reduction in emissions by 2030 in order to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century. Instead, the commitments made by countries so far imply a 16% increase in greenhouse gas emissions – not a 45% decrease – a 16% increase in greenhouse gas emissions. greenhouse in 2030 compared to 2010 levels. “
This discrepancy, along with a lack of climate assistance to developing countries of rich countries, means the outcome in Glasgow could be far short of a deal with the strength and ambition to put the world on track. ‘avoid devastating climate change, said Guterres mentioned.
Coming out of Paris, the hope was that countries would meet or exceed their commitments, and then go to the next conference with even bolder plans. But that hasn’t happened, so the secretary-general is trying to encourage countries to commit to cutting emissions more sharply and securing more generous funding to help developing countries switch to clean energy.
This is a pivotal week for climate policy, as senior ministers and heads of state gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Guterres also highlighted the G-20 meeting in Rome in October as a crucial inflection point, as countries belonging to this group of economic powers are responsible for 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and they do not haven’t completely filled the $ 100 billion. climate fund promised in Paris.
Developing countries say that funding and making half of that money available for projects that address the effects of climate change – not just to limit climate change, which rich countries prefer to invest in – is essential for get countries like India and Indonesia, which could be major sources of emissions in the future, to embark on a clean energy path towards economic growth.
“Developed countries must keep their pledge to mobilize $ 100 billion a year for climate action in the developing world from 2021 to 2025,” said Guterres. “We failed in 2019 and 2020.… Failure to keep this commitment would be a major source of erosion of trust between developed and developing countries. “
The only immediate action in response to the secretary-general’s exhortations appeared to come from Sweden and Denmark, which announced they would devote half or more of their funding to climate adaptation.
And so Guterres had to reiterate: “We need decisive action now to avert a climate catastrophe. “
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