66 nations vow climate action at UN
The climate emergency is a race we are losing, but one we can win, says secretary-general
NEW DELHI : The United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York on Monday set the pace for the forthcoming UN Climate negotiations, with about 30 countries committing to carbon neutrality by 2050 and many others committing to raising their contribution to the Green Climate Fund ($100 billion dollars 2020 to be raised by developed countries for developing ones).
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera Echenique, who is hosting the next climate negotiations later this year, said 66 countries promised to have more ambitious climate goals and 30 swore to be carbon neutral by 2050.
It was however not discussed whether these new commitments would keep global mean temperature rise under 2 degrees over pre-industrial levels.
The UN Science Advisory Committee had sounded alarm bells on the urgency of climate change on Sunday by revealing that average global temperature is already 1.1°C above pre-industrial times and 0.2°C warmer than 2011-2015 period and that the pace of climate change impacts has increased in recent years.
With the current nationally determined contributions (NDCS) submitted by nations under the 2015 Paris Agreement, there will be a global mean temperature rise between 2.9 °C and 3.4 °C by 2100 compared to pre-industrial levels, it said. A UN statement said about 59 countries have suggested that they intend to submit enhanced NDCS soon.
Companies under the UN Global Compact with a combined capital of more than $2.3 trillion dollars and annual direct emissions equivalent to 73 coal power plants have also pledged to reduce their emissions in line with science-based targets for businesses, the statement added.
Russia, responsible for 4.7% of global CO2 emissions, announced on Monday it will adopt the Paris agreement.
US President Donald Trump, who was not expected to attend, sat through the proceedings but didn’t contribute or announce any intention to join other nations in meeting the Paris target. french president emma neul Macaron said Europe intends to be carbon-neutral by 2050. “France, Norway, Denmark have doubled their contribution to make up for US’S withdrawal. We are hoping to hear from US during this summit,” he said.
Only four heads of state—new Zealand, PM Jacinda Ardern, Marshall Islands President Hilda C Heine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel had slots to share their plans on reducing emissions. Other heads of states spoke during sessions on finance and carbon neutrality.
Ardern committed to keep climate mitigation in New Zealand in line with 1.5 degree Celsius target, as did Marshall Islands. Germany said it plans to be carbon neutral by mid-century.
The UN Secretary General urged world leaders to rise to the challenge and take bold action to ensure a safe future.
Whether the commitments have added up to the Paris target will be known when the UN releases its evaluation report of the summit.