“The world is watching us: the planet cannot wait”… The appeal of the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, before the Climate Ambition Summit, which is being held this Wednesday in New York, has not had the desired impact and will probably be marked by the notable absence of world leaders.
After the extreme summer in the northern hemisphere with the floods in Libya and Greece, the fires and storms in the Mediterranean, the fires in Canada and Hawaii and the record temperature (52.2 degrees) and floods in China, Guterres wanted urge the international community and get ahead of COP28 that will start on November 30 in Dubai.
The Secretary General of the ONUI made it clear that the New York mini-summit will be reserved “for those who are doing and moving” to reduce emissions, which left the criticized British “premier” Rishi Sunak, among others, out of the game. for their “climate apathy.” Despite playing at home, the presence of President Joe Biden is not guaranteed either, who may delegate in the end to his special climate envoy John Kerry.
“The expectation is that leaders will respond positively,” said Selwin Hart, Guterres’ climate action spokesperson. “The New York summit will serve as a showcase for governments, local authorities, businesses and civil society representatives who are taking credible action and putting plans in place to keep the 1.5 degree target alive. temperatures) of the Paris agreement.
The plans to advance the goal of zero emissions in industrialized countries, “progressively eliminate the use of fossil fuels” and financing damage and losses to developing countries will be the focus of discussions at the New York summit. The meeting takes place twelve days after the discouraging first “Global Review” of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which certifies the big gap that still exists between action and objectives and urges countries to reach the “peak” of greenhouse gas emissions in 2025.