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'.
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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.
We stand at a critical juncture in our collective efforts to address the climate emergency.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) November 30, 2019
Our war against nature must stop.
I have just arrived in Madrid to urge leaders at #COP25 to work together to boost #ClimateAction, and help drive the deep transition we urgently need. pic.twitter.com/FGp3Xkkrch
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.
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.
Day 18. We’re speeding towards Europe! Estimated time of arrival right now is Tuesday morning. We’ll be arriving at Doca de Alcantara, Lisbon. We are all looking forward to see you there! @Sailing_LaVaga@elayna__c @_NikkiHenderson pic.twitter.com/PlOxgUeETx
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) November 30, 2019
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.
14:14 IST, December 2nd 2019