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Published 15:05 IST, September 18th 2019

UN Secretary-General: 'We are losing the race' on climate catastrophe

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that the world is losing out on time to dodge a catastrophic climate disaster. 'We are losing the race,' he added.

Reported by: Ruchit Rastogi
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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the world is losing out on time to dodge a catastrophic climate disaster but the targets set to control greenhouse gas emissions were well within reach. He was talking in a public address a couple of days before the United Nations youth climate summit. The summit which would be followed by a meeting with leaders from different parts of the world that will see the Secretary-General encouraging them to increase their commitments fixed under the Paris agreement

'Time is running out'

The milestone accord saw nations promise to stop the long term increase in the normal temperature of the Earth to two degrees Celsius over pre-industry levels and if conceivable to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

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He said that his main objective is to put pressure on the concerned governments to realize that a swift and responsive action is needed as time is running out. He further added that the scientists looking into this said that the set targets can still be achieved. 
Guterres said that a non-responsive nature by some key nations, including the US, could be at any rate mostly balanced by activity at the sub-national level, for instance in the carbon emissions promises made by California and New York.

Read: Climate Change: Activist Greta Thunberg Leads Protests At White House

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He said that important cities, areas, and firms were making a base and banks and funds were backing out of sectors related to coal and fossil fuels.

Guterres additionally referred to the case of the European Union, where just three nations currently restrict the objective of the carbon neutrality of bias by 2050 and said that he felt "another breeze" in the push for sustainable power source, particularly with the development of sun oriented in India and China.

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Read: Global Warming Shrank Indian Economy By 31 Percent: Study

The Paris agreement

Inability to meet the objectives spread out under the Paris agreement could prompt the intersection of alleged "tipping points, for example, the defrosting of the Earth's permafrost that further accelerates global warming, making a circumstance where extraordinary climate occasions become the rules.

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Read: Climate Change, Trade Woes Reshape Frankfurt Auto Show To Protect Cars

Guterres said he was delighted by developing social responsibility, which implied that expectation was not yet lost, "however that requires significant changes in the manner we produce food for people around, in a manner in which we control our economies, in the manner in which we compose our urban areas, in the manner in which we produce power.

(With inputs from PTI)

Read: PM Modi At COP 14: 'World Facing Negative Impact Of Climate Change'

12:56 IST, September 18th 2019