“Developed nations must take the lead,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said after meeting with about 40 world leaders to warn of the “high risk of failure” at the summit. Glasgow
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has appealed to rich countries, especially developing countries, to fulfill their commitment to provide $ 100 billion a year to finance climate change.
The money promised in the 2015 Paris Agreement has not yet come into effect, but both Guterres and Johnson believe they can reach this milestone in COP26.
“We are not there yet, but there were promising reports about it today. So I hope it can make serious progress in Glasgow,” the Portuguese ambassador said after meeting the leaders.
At the private meeting, Johnson noted that key commitments had been made by countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Italy, and the European Union (EU), but stressed that it was important to see what the United States would do. Joe Biden is scheduled to address the climate crisis in a speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
Guterres, however, expressed concern about the lack of progress in reducing the emissions of pollutants, particularly in the wake of the cholera crisis.
“Based on the current commitment of member states, the world is on a catastrophic path of warming up to 2.7 degrees Celsius. Science says that anything above 1.5 degrees will be a catastrophe,” he warned.
The UN President stressed that all countries must contribute to achieving the zero net emission target by 2050 and urged governments to put forward the most ambitious proposals possible without waiting for others.
