sb.scorecardresearch
Advertisement

Published 15:59 IST, December 2nd 2019

World's 'war against nature must stop', says UN's Antonio Guterres ahead of COP25

On the eve of the global climate summit in Madrid for two weeks, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres said on Dec 1 that 'war against nature must stop'.

Reported by: Aanchal Nigam
Follow: Google News Icon
  • share
World
null | Image: self
Advertisement

On the eve of the global climate summit in Madrid for two weeks, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on December 1 that 'war against nature must stop'. Guterres urged the global leaders at COP25 to find more political will in order to tackle the climate crisis of the planet. Worldwide, the countries are witnessing severe effects of climate change with wildfires to typhoons. The climate activists have linked these adverse effects to the manmade global warming and the leaders are now putting pressure on the summit in order to intensify the implementation of the Paris Agreement of 2015 to limit the global temperature. 

Read - UN Chief Warns Of ‘point Of No Return’ On Climate Change

Stop exploitation of renewable resources

The UN Secretary-General believes that the world shall stop exploiting the 'vast possibilities' offered by renewable energy as well as the nature-based solutions. In the Paris Climate deal, it was agreed to cut down the emissions of greenhouse gases, mostly from the burning of carbon-based fossil fuels. This agreement was reached to decrease the global temperature rise between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celcius above the pre-industrial levels. However, according to Guterres, many countries are not even meeting the commitments and the 'political will' is still lacking when it comes to the issue of climate change. The United States President Donald Trump has also started the official process of withdrawing the US from Paris Agreement. The 'lungs of the earth', Amazon forests are facing accelerated deforestation while China has tilted back towards building more coal-fired power plants. 

Read - Science Warnings, US Retreat Add Urgency To UN Climate Talks

Show accountability and responsibility at COP25

Guterres also believes that during COP25, there will be a 'clear demonstration' of hiked ambition to tackle climate emergencies and the global leaders should show 'responsibility and accountability'. Anything less than that would be a 'betrayal' of the entire human race along with the future generations. On the other hand, the face of the global strike for climate change, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg who is currently taking a boat ride to attend the COP25 and meet the world leaders yet again after her 'iconic' speech at the United Nations. The estimated time of her arrival is the morning of December 3, after a journey of nearly 20 days. 

Greta Thunberg boarded a sailboat to Europe from Hampton, Virginia after staying in America for nearly three months. A young Australian couple has volunteered to help Thunberg in motivating her in return amble. Elayna Carausu and Riley Whitelum live on their catamaran with their 11-month-old boy responded to the teen activist's appeal for help with an environmentally friendly return trip to Europe.  

Read - Thousands Protest In Europe, Asia Days Before UN Climate Summit

Read - UK Tories Complains To TV Watchdog Over Climate Debate

14:14 IST, December 2nd 2019