Guterres warns: The world needs a green planet, but it is on red alert

During his speech at the Leaders’ Summit on Climate convened this Thursday by the United States and which brings together more than 40 nations that represent 80% of global emissions, the UN Secretary General has warned of the precarious situation in which the climate health of the planet is and called on world leaders to act.

António Guterres stressed that the last decade was the hottest in history, that greenhouse gases have reached levels not seen in three million years and that the global temperature has already increased by 1.2 degrees Celsius, a combination that brings us “closer to the threshold of catastrophe”.

“Meanwhile, we are witnessing a steady rise in sea level, extreme temperatures, devastating tropical cyclones and epic wildfires. We need a green planet, but the world is on red alert. We are on the edge of the abyss. We must make sure that the next step is in the right direction,” he warned.

To implement this step, he urged world leaders to act on four axes: building a global coalition to achieve net zero emissions by mid-century, turning this decade into a decade of transformation, translating commitments into concrete and immediate actions, and advancing financing and adaptation.

Regarding the third paragraph, he stressed that “so far, it is only expected that between 18% and 24% of pandemic recovery spending will contribute to mitigating emissions, reducing air pollution or strengthening natural capital,” he said.

He warned that the trillions of dollars needed for recovery from COVID-19 “are money we are borrowing from future generations” and that “we cannot use these resources to entrench policies that burden them with a mountain of debt on a broken planet.”

That is why he said that we must:

• Putting a price on carbon, shifting taxation of revenues to carbon.
• End fossil fuel subsidies.
• Increase investments in renewable energy and green infrastructure.
• Stop coal financing and the construction of new coal-fired power plants.

And with regard to the fourth axis, he said that a breakthrough is needed in terms of financing and adaptation.

“This is critical to trust and collective action. Multilateral and national donors and development banks must move from 20% to 50% in all climate finance flows to resilience and adaptation.”

Guterres called for concrete proposals to allow access to increased funding and technology support for the most vulnerable countries ahead of the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow in November.

During his speech, the HEAD OF THE UN applauded the announcement made at the Summit by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, who pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 50% and 52% below 2005 levels.

For her part, Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, who also spoke at the Summit, said that “the emergency caused by global climate change is a clear, present and growing danger for all the inhabitants of the planet.”

It takes leadership, courage and solidarity

He added that “it does not recognize borders and, although nations are affected differently, none are immune. It is time for world leaders to assume leadership, courage and solidarity; a time when they must make the tough decisions necessary to finally deliver on the promises of the Paris Agreement by setting the world apart from disaster and steering it towards an era of unprecedented growth, prosperity and hope for all.”

Espinosa also applauded the commitments shown by several nations at the Summit and urged all nations to bring this “momentum to the crucial negotiations of COP26 (the Climate Conference) scheduled for this November in Glasgow.”

Young people are the vanguard of the struggle

“Young people around the world are at the forefront of the climate justice movement and have championed nature’s health over development at the global, national and local levels,” said Archana Soreng, the Indian environmental activist with the Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change.

“Whether on the streets or in decision-making spaces, we lead the way, holding our leaders accountable to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development. In the field of education, technology, science, law, art, music, fashion, entertainment, food, sport and many more, we are making a difference through our skills, experience and contributing to climate action,” he explained.

Mother Earth Day

The convening of the Summit coincides with the celebration of International Mother Earth Day. In his message on the occasion of the anniversary, Guterres said that humanity continues to abuse the natural world.

“We irresponsibly plunder the planet’s resources, deplete its wildlife and treat the air, land and seas as landfills. There are crucial ecosystems and food chains that are being seen on the verge of collapse. That’s a suicidal attitude.”

To reverse this attitude, Guterres proposed putting into operation an ambitious climate action to limit the increase in global temperature to a maximum of 1.5 °C and adapt to the changes that will occur, adopt stronger measures to protect biodiversity and reduce pollution by creating circular economies that generate less waste.

The head of the UN indicated that the sum of these measures will serve to protect the planet and create millions of jobs.

“The recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic offers an opportunity for the world to embark on a cleaner, greener and more sustainable path,” Guterres said, calling for a common commitment to “work hard to restore our planet and make peace with nature.”

Source: UN News