Climate action: Guterres hails Latin American and Caribbean leadership 

Secretary-General António Guterres said helium was counting on these nations to nonstop a beardown awesome to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) that it is imaginable to execute a resilient nett zero future. 

He was speaking at the High-Level Dialogue connected Climate Action in the Americas, hosted by the Government of Argentina. The one-day virtual event brought together countries successful the Americas to discuss their shared commitment to enhancing climate ambition. 

Glasgow successful the United Kingdom volition big the planetary clime gathering COP26, by Unsplash/Adam Marikar

The event is taking spot less than 2 months earlier COP26, which volition beryllium held October 31 to November 12 in Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow. 

“We request to enactment unneurotic to flooded the existent impasse”, said Mr. Guterres, adding that countries successful the region were already showing their ambition successful reducing greenhouse state emissions and adapting to climatic change, adjacent arsenic they grapple with the societal and economical effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He besides pledged “the afloat enactment of the United Nations strategy to code the triple menace of COVID-19, clime alteration and debt.” 

Priorities 

Mr. Guterres highlighted three indispensable areas that need immediate action. 

First, support the 1.5 degrees Celsius supra pre-industrial levels target within reach. According to him, astatine present, the satellite is “a agelong mode from achieving it”. 

He shared immoderate examples of however that tin beryllium accomplished, specified as achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and phasing retired the usage of ember nary aboriginal than 2030 for Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, and by 2040 for each others. 

The UN Chief besides said that “a just modulation means ensuring that workers successful high-carbon and fossil fuel-related sectors person decent alternate options, are supported for retraining, and person societal information nets.” 

Adaptation and resilience 

Second, Mr. Guterres asked for a breakthrough on adaptation and resilience. 

He called on donors and multilateral improvement banks to allocate astatine slightest 50 per cent of their climate finance to this end. Currently, only 21 per cent is devoted to it. 

Developing countries already need around $70 cardinal dollars a year to accommodate to these changes. That fig could much than quadruple by the extremity of this decade. 

And lastly, the Secretary-General said developed nations indispensable present connected the solidarity agenda. 

“That means enactment to processing countries connected vaccines, indebtedness and liquidity, arsenic good arsenic clime finance,” helium said. 

To execute that goal, Mr. Guterres argued the world needs “a credible plan” for delivering connected the $100 cardinal dollar committedness made implicit a decennary ago, and multilateral improvement banks have to align their portfolios with the 1.5 degrees goal. 

Event 

The opening of the high-level lawsuit also featured remarks from US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, along with Latin American and Caribbean heads of state. 

The lawsuit included interventions from governments, the backstage and fiscal sectors, improvement banks, academia, and civilian nine organizations.  

Panel discussions were held on topics such as enhancing clime ambition connected the roadworthy to Glasgow, accelerating clime enactment done determination cooperation, and strengthening adaptation and resilience to the impacts of clime change.