UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Wednesday, September 20, conveyed to global leaders that humanity’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels had “unleashed catastrophic consequences.” Notably, two leading polluters, China and the United States, were notably absent from the event.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday told world leaders humanity’s addiction to fossil fuels had “opened the gates to hell” as he kicked off a climate meeting where leading polluters China and the United States were conspicuously absent.
Despite increasing extreme weather events and record-shattering global temperatures, greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and oil and gas companies reap handsome profits.
Guterres has thus billed the “Climate Ambition Summit” as a “no nonsense” forum where leaders or cabinet ministers will announce specific actions that deliver on their commitments under the Paris Agreement.
The bar for the podium was set high, with the UN chief making clear that only leaders who had made concrete plans to achieve net-zero greenhouse emissions would be allowed to speak.
After receiving more than 100 applications to take part, the UN finally released a list on Tuesday night of 41 speakers which did not include China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan or India.
Several major leaders didn’t bother making the trip to New York for this year’s UN General Assembly, including President Xi Jinping of China and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak from the United Kingdom, who said he was too busy.
US President Joe Biden, who addressed the General Assembly on Tuesday, sent his climate envoy John Kerry to the meeting, although Kerry won’t be permitted to speak in the segment reserved for “movers and doers.”
He blamed competing issues, from the Ukraine conflict to US-China tensions and rising economic uncertainty, but also the lobbying power of the fossil fuel industry.
Advanced economies vowed in 2009 to channel $100 billion annually to less developed countries by the year 2020, a promise that was broken, even as much of the funding that was mobilized came in the form of loans.
Meanwhile, a “loss and damage” fund aimed at providing financial assistance to nations most vulnerable and impacted by the effects of climate change has still not been operationalized.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
