Weltnachrichten – AU – UN Secretary General urges all countries to report climate emergencies

António Guterres informs the Climate Ambition Summit that more needs to be done to achieve net zero emissions

Governments around the world should all declare the climate emergency until the world has zero net CO2 emissions, UN Secretary General António Guterres told a summit of world leaders.

At least 38 countries have already declared such a state of emergency, often due to their vulnerability to the effects of the collapse that are already being felt.

« Can anyone deny that we are facing a dramatic emergency? » Guterres said on Saturday. “I urge everyone else to follow. ”

In order to declare an emergency, countries urgently need to step up their measures to combat greenhouse gas emissions. More and more governments have set a goal of achieving net zero emissions by mid-century, but few have detailed plans on how to get there.

Many countries are also investing money in high carbon activities to recover from the coronavirus crisis and recession. Guterres found that the G20 countries spent 50% more on fossil fuels and carbon-intensive sectors in their stimulus packages than on low-carbon energy.

« This is unacceptable, » he said at the online Climate Ambition Summit co-hosted by the United Nations, Great Britain and France. “The trillion dollars it will take to recover from Covid is money we will borrow from future generations. This is a moral test. We cannot use these resources to establish guidelines that will burden future generations with a mountain of debt on a broken planet. ”

More than 70 world leaders, civil society activists, business leaders and city mayors are attending the Climate Ambition Summit, which takes place five years after the landmark Paris Climate Agreement.

Under the Paris Agreement, countries are required to keep global temperature rise well below 2 ° C above pre-industrial levels, which scientists see as an external safety limit, with the aim of limiting global warming to 1. 5C, which should avoid the worst devastation of the collapse of the climate.

However, the commitments made in Paris to reduce emissions were insufficient and would lead to catastrophic warming of more than 3 ° C. The agreement includes a ratchet mechanism that nations must use to update their commitments every five years. The first deadline is now 31. December, and at the summit on Saturday, world leaders are due to come up with reinforced plans, known as Nationally Set Contributions (NDCs), to cut emissions by 2030.

The UK has set itself the goal of reducing emissions by 68% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. On Friday, the EU confirmed its commitment to cut by 55% by 2030.

Many other countries, including China, Japan, and South Korea, have set longer-term goals to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 or 2060.

The US is not represented at the summit, which was only open to countries willing to make strong new commitments. However, President-elect Joe Biden has announced his intention to drive the Paris Agreement forward, seek an environmentally friendly recovery from Covid and achieve net zero emissions.

Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, pledged on Friday to end UK taxpayer-funded support for fossil fuel projects overseas after months of pressure from green activists. In the past four years, around 21 billion. GBP in such funds provided.

The summit is a base for the important United Nations Cop26 talks, which aim to put countries on the right track to meet the commitments of the Paris Agreement. The Cop26 talks will be hosted by the UK in Glasgow this coming November after being postponed this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

United Nations, António Guterres, Climate Change