Guterres calls for creativity to respond to climate change
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said today that climate change is moving faster than countries’ responses, arguing that it takes creativity to transform economies.
“We need more creativity to transform our economies and limit global warming as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible. Climate change is moving faster than we are,” said António Guterres in a message to the Forum virtual summit of Climate Vulnerability, which takes place today on the Marshall Islands.
The Portuguese secretary-general called on the world to act, demanded a concrete action plan and said that everyone should agree on the COP 24 summit, which will take place in Katowice, Poland, from 2 to 14 December.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in a report released in October that limiting the increase to 1.5 degrees could prevent sea levels rising by 10 centimetres, causing the Arctic to lose frost during the winter and die coral reefs.
To get there, UN experts said 45% of carbon dioxide emissions would need to be cut by 2030 and continued to fall to reach neutrality by 2050.
“Climate change discriminates and those most affected are always the poorest,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Michelle Bachelet.
The Climate Vulnerability Forum, founded in 2009, brings together 48 states committed to eliminating carbon emissions.
