NEW YORK: Leaders
from government, business and civil society announced potentially far-reaching
steps yesterday, on September 23, to confront climate change at the United
Nations Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit in New York.
The UN estimated that the world needs to increase its efforts between three and
five-fold to contain climate change to the levels dictated by science, a 1.5°C
rise at most and avoid escalating climate damage already taking place around
the world.
However, the Paris Agreement provides an open-door framework for countries to
continuously ratchet up their positive actions, and the Summit demonstrate how
governments, businesses and civilians around the world are rising to the
challenge.
“The best science, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
tells us that any temperature rise above 1.5°C will lead to major and irreversible
damage to the ecosystems that support us,” said António Guterres, Secretary-General,
United Nations. “Science tells us that on our current path, we face at least 3°C of global heating by the end of the century.”
“The climate
emergency is a race we are losing, but it is a race we can win.” “This is not a
climate talk summit. We have had enough talk,” he added. “This is not a climate
negotiation summit. You do not negotiate with nature. This is a climate action
summit.”
Guterres further said, “Governments are here to show you are serious about
enhancing Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement. Cities
and businesses are here showing what leadership looks like, investing in a
green future. Financial actors are here to scale-up action and deploy resources
in fundamentally new and meaningful ways. Coalitions are here with partnerships
and initiatives to move us closer to a resilient, carbon-neutral world by
2050.”