‘A sad snapshot’: Drastic action needed to keep Paris agreement goals alive, UN chief warns

Leaders from astir the satellite are gathered successful New York to sermon immoderate of the world’s biggest challenges astatine the UN General Assembly (UNGA).

The clime crisis, on with its intertwined consequences for security, nutrient and poorness has taken centre stage.

Addressing the planetary gathering connected Tuesday (19 September), UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres began by referencing the catastrophic flooding successful Libya this month.

He said that the thousands of radical dormant were “victims of years of conflict, victims of clime chaos, victims of leaders adjacent and far, who failed to find a mode to peace”.

Gutteres described bodies washing ashore successful Libya's Derna, successful the aforesaid Mediterranean Sea wherever billionaires sunbathe connected their ace yachts, arsenic a “sad snapshot of the authorities of the world”.

A satellite that helium said is “becoming unhinged” with the deadly catastrophe representing a “flood of inequity, of injustice, of inability to face the challenges successful our midst”.

The satellite is retired of measurement connected clime and sustainability pledges

Global enactment - oregon inaction arsenic caller reports bespeak - is emerging arsenic 1 of the world’s biggest obstacles to addressing these challenges.

After the G7, G20 and a fig of different planetary meetings fell abbreviated of meaningful pledges, the UNGA volition beryllium the past large planetary gathering to instrumentality spot earlier COP28 successful Dubai aboriginal this year.

Released earlier this month, the UN’s Global Stocktake recovered that the satellite is mode disconnected way to conscionable its 2015 Paris statement targets. The Climate Ambition Summit connected Wednesday is acceptable to showcase those “first movers and shakers” who are already doing the most.

Also successful 2017, UN members signed up to 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with targets including limiting planetary warming, acquisition and putting an extremity to utmost poverty. They are meant to beryllium met by 2030 but the standard of planetary crises has near astir nations disconnected track.

A two-day SDG acme astatine the UNGA aims to beryllium a “rallying outcry to recharge momentum” successful achieving these objectives, the UN says.

“We indispensable beryllium determined to tackle the astir contiguous menace to our future: our overheating planet,” Guterres said.

“Climate chaos is breaking caller records but we cannot spend the aforesaid aged breached grounds of scapegoating and waiting for others to determination first.”

An ‘unshakeable spot successful humanity’

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva echoed the taxable of rising inequality.

When helium archetypal stood astatine the podium astatine the UNGA 20 years ago, hunger was the cardinal taxable of his speech. The satellite had not yet realised the severity of the clime crisis.

The Brazillian person said that the satellite is present progressively unequal with the 10 richest billionaires holding much wealthiness than the poorest 40 per cent of humanity.

But helium inactive maintains an “unshakeable spot successful humanity” to flooded the challenges it faces 2 decades on. Lula said that Brazil is committed to delivering each 17 of the SDGs - without repeating the mistakes of the world’s wealthiest nations.

“The richest 10 per cent of the world’s colonisation are liable for astir fractional of each c released into the atmosphere,” helium told the UNGA.

"We processing countries bash not privation to repetition this model."

Lula highlighted that 87 per cent of Brazil’s energy present comes from cleanable sources and deforestation successful the country’s Amazon rainforest has been reduced by 48 per cent.

“The full satellite has ever talked astir the Amazon – present the Amazon is speaking for itself.”

Is determination inactive a ‘way retired of this mess’?

Presidents, premiers, ministers and monarchs from astir 140 countries are successful New York. It is the archetypal clip they person met connected this standard since the COVID-19 pandemic and the fig successful attendance reflects the scope of problems they person to solve.

“People are looking to their leaders for a mode retired of this mess,” Guterres said up of a gathering of satellite leaders astatine the UNGA connected Tuesday.

But not each leaders are “feeling the heat” of clime change, according to the UN chief.

US President Joe Biden was the lone person from the UN’s Security Council - 5 almighty veto-wielding nations rounded retired by the UK, France, China and Russia - to code the assembly.

Guterres said that determination is inactive clip to support planetary warming wrong the 1.5C bounds of the Paris Agreement but it volition instrumentality “drastic” steps arsenic the world's effect to clime alteration falls "abysmally short". 

With G20 countries liable for 80 per cent of greenhouse state emissions, helium called connected large polluters to marque other efforts to chopped emissions, end ember use and fossil substance subsidies and enactment a “price connected carbon”.

The UN Secretary General added that affluent countries indispensable supply enactment for emerging nations to modulation to greenish exertion and header with the increasing consequences of clime change.