More than 100 world leaders on Tuesday returned to the United Nations in person for the first time in two years. With the pandemic still raging, about 60 heads of state have chosen to deliver pre-recorded statements. In his annual state-of-the-world speech at the opening of the UN General Assembly, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres rang the alarm: “We are on the edge of an abyss—and moving in the wrong direction. I’m here to sound the alarm. The world must wake up.”
Alarm over global warming was a common theme in speeches at the UN. For example, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said “the difference between 1.5 degrees and 2 degrees is a death sentence for the Maldives.” He added: “The state of environmental ruin small island states endure now, will without a doubt catch up with bigger nations sooner than later. There is no guarantee of survival for any one nation in a world where the Maldives cease to exist.”
Slovakia President Zuzana Caputova said, “Simply put, our common task is saving our planet. Previously, the Earth was whispering but now she is screaming that she cannot hold us any longer, that humankind is too heavy a burden to carry. Saving the planet is not a promise we make today for our successors to implement it later.”
Portugal President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa profoundly summed up: “It is not just for climate that there is no Planet B. It is for everything.”
US President Joe Biden Tweeted before he spoke at the UN General Assembly: “The evidence is clear: climate change poses an existential threat. If we don’t stay below 1.5°C of global temperature rise, we’re in deep trouble. We need to build back better by investing in clean energy, cutting emissions, and fighting climate change head on.”
In his speech, Biden pledged to double financial aid to poorer nations to $11.4 billion by 2024 so those countries could switch to cleaner energy and meet carbon emissions goals. He added that the US aims to become the world’s leading provider of climate finance to “help developing nations tackle the climate crisis.”
Hours later, Chinese President Xi Jinping surprised the UN General Assembly and all those listening to his pre-recorded speech all over the world when he announced that China will no longer fund coal-fired power plants abroad.
“This is the announcement many have been waiting for. It’s a big deal. China was the only significant funder of overseas coal left. This announcement essentially ends all public support for coal globally,” said Joanna Lewis, an expert on China, energy and climate at Georgetown University.
The UN chief called Xi’s announcement welcome news. “Accelerating the global phase out of coal is the single most important step to keeping the Paris agreement’s key warming limit within reach,” Guterres said.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hosting the upcoming climate negotiations in Glasgow, was seemingly overjoyed. “Today was a really good day for the world,” he said.
In a speech to the General Assembly, Johnson said it’s now or never if the world is to meet its goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. “If we keep on the current track then the temperatures will go up by 2.7 degrees or more by the end of the century. And never mind what that will do to the ice floes,” he said. “We will see desertification, drought, crop failure, and mass movements of humanity on a scale not seen before. Not because of some unforeseen natural event or disaster, but because of us, because of what we are doing now.”
We hope the next round of UN climate talks, to be held in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12, will bring global solidarity so that all parties involved will work together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The world needs to act on climate change now. Delayed efforts to stop global warming will have adverse consequences for humankind.
Image courtesy of Jimbo Albano
Goodbye coal?
Source: News Paper Radio
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