Countries seen as taking strong action against climate change will speak Wednesday (September 20) at a special climate summit, with the oil-exporting United Arab Emirates set to take the last slot. With this year’s annual U.N. climate summit, COP28, set to take place later this year in the UAE city of Dubai, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has implored national policymakers to step up efforts to rein in climate-warming emissions.
“I’m not sure all leaders are feeling the heat,” Mr Guterres said during his opening remarks at this week’s U.N. General Assembly in New York, adding that efforts were “falling abysmally short.”
Also Read: Individual Contributions Required To Achieve Sustainable Development Goals: Actor Dia Mirza
A total of 34 nations were asked to speak at Wednesday’s Climate Ambition Summit, including Brazil, Canada, the European Union, Pakistan, South Africa and the island nation of Tuvalu.
Missing from the list are the world’s two top polluters – the United States and China – though U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry is expected to be in the audience. China’s U.N. mission did not immediately respond for comment.
While the UAE was not among the countries selected by Mr Guterres to talk about their climate plans, the UAE’s COP28 President Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber will speak at the end about the country’s priorities for that two-week summit starting Nov. 29.
Mr Guterres said he hopes the one-day mini summit will inspire more investment and action by both countries and companies to bring their climate plans in line with the global target of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
The climate summit was also set to hear from several non-member states and international financial institutions, including the global travel insurer Allianz, multilateral lending agencies including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as well as London and the U.S. state of California.
The summit’s purpose is not to “embarrass” countries who are lagging in action, but rather to showcase those who are moving forward, said Mr Guterres’ climate adviser Selwin Hart in an interview with Reuters this week. Only countries planning to update their emissions-cutting targets toward achieving net-zero emissions, including some committing to phase out fossil fuel use without relying on carbon offsets, were invited to speak.
A U.N. report this month said current emissions pledges were insufficient for keeping the global average temperature going 1.5 degrees Celsius beyond the preindustrial average. More than 20 gigatonnes of further CO2 reductions were needed this decade – and global net zero by 2050 – in order to meet the goals.
Also Read: Climate Takes Center Stage At UN As Global Temperatures Hit Record
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
