“We owe it to people to find solutions, to fight back and to act,” he said Secretary General Antonio Guterres. “Sometimes we will strike back discreetly but always with determination.”
Building on his broader call for action, Mr Guterres announced he will convene a climate ambition summit next September and called on all leaders “to speak up – from governments, businesses, cities and regions, civil society and finance”.
Time to move the needle
Nothing short of concrete and credible climate action would suffice, but without diplomatic niceties, he made it clear that the price of entry for any nation is “non-negotiable, credible, reputable and New Climate action and nature-based solutions that will advance the needle and respond to the urgency of the climate crisis.”
He said it will be “a factual summit. No exceptions. No compromise. There will be no room for back downs, greenwashers, finger pointing or repackaging of announcements from previous years.”
The UN chief said it will be convened alongside a summit for the opening week of the General Assembly, already on the calendar, to speed up action halfway to ambitious targets Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
reasons for hope
He began his year-end press conference at UN headquarters by looking back at 2022, saying that while there may be “many reasons for despair” amid the Ukraine war and the associated cost-of-living crisis the poorest nations are leaving behind would. Debt Series” was not an option.
“This is not a time to sit on the sidelines, it is a time for determination, determination and — yes — even hope.
“Because despite the limitations and long odds, we’re working to fight despair, fight disillusionment, and find real solutions. Not perfect solutions – not even always beautiful solutions – but practical solutions that meaningfully change people’s lives.
“Solutions that must set us on the path to a better and more peaceful future.”
The 15th or COP15 Session of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity CBD, Montreal, Canada.
Biodiversity Agreement
He highlighted the deal just hours earlier to stop the destruction of ecosystems worldwide at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, COP15.
“We are finally starting to make a peace pact with nature,” he said, calling on all countries to keep their promises.
Progress has been made in ending conflicts in some of the world’s war zones, he said, citing the cessation of hostilities in northern Ethiopia as another “reason for hope,” a by-product of “a diplomatic rebirth.”
There has also been progress in eastern DRC, where armed groups have stepped up fighting government forces and drawn in UN peacekeeping forces, and “a ceasefire in Yemen has really paid off for the people”.
Even in Ukraine’s brutal theater of war, “we have seen the power of firm, discreet diplomacy to help people and tackle an unprecedented level of global food insecurity,” he said, citing his “Black Sea Grains” initiative to authorize food exports facilitate and fertilizers from Ukraine and the Memorandum of Understanding for the unhindered export of Russian food and fertilizers.
More than 14 million tons of grain and other foodstuffs have now been shipped from Black Sea ports, while Russian wheat exports have tripled under the initiative.
“But much remains to be done,” he warned. “Food prices are still too high and access to fertilizers is still too limited.”
Global emissions gap is growing
Despite the pledges at COP27 in Egypt and the Biodiversity Accord, it is clear that the fight to limit emissions to just 1.5 degrees increase over pre-industrial levels overall is still “in the wrong direction” as the global emissions gap widens.
“The 1.5 degree target is gasping. National climate plans fall woefully short. And yet we do not withdraw. We’re fighting back,” added the UN chief.
He said the international community is now fighting back “to restore trust between North and South” with an agreement on the long-stalled edition of Loss and Damage at COP27.
Children participating in climate change event.
Pushing for the climate solidarity pact
Another positive step was taken in 2022 with the launch of an action plan to equip everyone in the world with early warning systems within the next five years.
“Going forward, I will continue to push for a climate solidarity pact in which all major emitters make extra efforts to reduce emissions this decade in line with the 1.5 degree target and ensure support for those who do.” need.
Without them, he warned, “the 1.5 degree target will soon disappear. I did not underestimate the need for all of us to confront this existential threat. And I won’t give in.”
