UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday said the world has failed to take tough decisions needed to stop global warming due to lack of leadership, warning that a key goal of the 2015 Paris climate accord is at risk.
Guterres bluntly told leaders gathered in New York that unless current emission trends for greenhouse gases are reversed by 2020, it would be impossible to keep global warming below 1.5°C.
The target was set in the Paris agreement, but the UN has said that government commitments so far would only achieve a third of the emissions cuts needed.
Photo: Bloomberg
“Why is climate change faster than we are?” he asked. “The only possible answer is that we still lack strong leadership to take the bold decisions needed to put our economies and societies on the path of low-carbon growth and climate-resilience.”
Guterres’ comments echoed those of climate researchers, who have said that the world could miss even the less ambitious goal in the Paris accord of keeping temperature increases below 2°C by the end of the century compared with preindustrial times.
He challenged governments to end fossil-fuel subsidies, help shift toward renewable energy and back a price for carbon emissions that reflects their actual cost.
A report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that the cost of taxes and permits for carbon emissions among dozens of leading economies is more than 76 percent below the estimated actual cost of 30 euros (US$35.11) per tonne.
Guterres said climate-related disasters cost the world US$320 billion last year, a figure likely to grow with increased warming.
He singled out the G20 economies, which he said account for about 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
As Guterres spoke at the UN, across town, corporate leaders and government officials announced a range of programs intended to pump billions of dollars in public and private funds into the green economy, which aims to reduce the environmental impact of business.
Among them, the World Bank announced it would invest US$1 billion in battery storage systems for developing and emerging economies.
World Bank president Jim Yong Kim said that the institution expects to raise an additional US$4 billion for the venture to triple battery storage capacity in developing countries by 2025.
French President Emmanuel Macron cautioned against governments and companies “greenwashing” unacceptably high carbon emissions with big-figure promises, citing the pledge by rich countries to mobilize US$100 billion a year by 2020 to help poor nations tackle global warming.
That target is unlikely to be met, especially if the US — which under US President Donald Trump announced its withdrawal from the Paris accord — does not contribute its share.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told the meeting of her visit to small Pacific Ocean island nations that are already suffering the effects of climate change.
“None of us can opt out of severe weather events or rising sea levels, so nor should we have the ability to opt out of action either,” she said.
New Zealand is one of several countries considering enshrining in law a goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.
The coming months are to see a flurry of negotiations over the rules that countries will have to follow as part of their commitment to the Paris accord.
Signatories have set themselves a deadline of agreeing to rules by the time leaders meet in Katowice, Poland, in December.
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