UN climate chief urges world ‘in a tough point’ to keep fighting warming

NEW DELHI: “Like the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change is a serious issue countries must work together to address or all nations will face the consequences,” Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the Framework Convention on Climate Change, United Nations, warned on Wednesday, February 3.

COVID-19 has ignored national borders, Espinosa said and added “climate change respects them even less”. But rising national isolationism, including in the face of the pandemic, is making vital global cooperation harder. She conceded that dealing simultaneously with the twin crises of COVID-19 and climate change can feel overwhelming and almost impossible for many people and leaders. She added that there is no doubt we are all in a tough spot right now.

Espinosa stated that so far, growing firsthand experience of a warming climate has not translated into fast enough action to deal with more extreme weather and rising seas, nor into promised allowances to help more deprived nations grow cleanly and adapt to rising risks.

vProsperous countries are incompetent on a promise to raise $100 billion a year from 2020 to drive a shift to green energy and develop resilience in vulnerable nations, Espinosa said. She added that it is particularly frustrating when the promise is just a small share of the trillions needed to shift the world onto a sustainable path as governments simultaneously raise huge amounts to deal with the pandemic.

She further warned that if emissions continue to increase in the developing world and a green transformation does not happen, then all the efforts made to reduce greenhouse gases in richer countries will be negatively affected.