The UN Secretary General Convenes Ambitious Countries for Landmark Climate Summit

The Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, brings together, this Wednesday, September 20 in New York, on the sidelines of the Annual General Assembly of the United Nations, the most ambitious countries in the fight against global warming for a summit aimed at filling the immense gap between the severity of the climate crisis and the limited scale of government policies. This meeting, which will bring together state representatives but also business leaders, could be the most important climate meeting in the United States since 2019, when Swedish activist Greta Thunberg launched to world leaders her famous “How dare you?” (“How dare you ?”)

Despite the multiplication and intensification of extreme weather events, greenhouse gas emissions responsible for warming continue to increase and the fossil fuel sector is reaping record profits. So Guterres, the new herald of the climate cause, convened this “common sense” rally, during which the invited leaders must announce specific actions to achieve their commitments made under the 2015 Paris agreement.

A high entry ticket

But the entry fee is high. The Secretary General was very clear, only the most ambitious, particularly in terms of carbon neutrality objectives, “the actors likely to move the lines”, will have the right to express themselves. “There will be no room for retreats, greenwashing, dodging responsibilities or repackaging announcements from previous years,” he warned when announcing this meeting at the end of December.

After receiving more than a hundred responses from countries justifying their action, the UN finally published, on Tuesday evening, the list of the lucky ones. It has some notable absentees, including the two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases: the United States, while President Joe Biden will still be in New York where he is participating in the annual General Assembly of the United Nations, the China, whose president did not make the trip, or the United Arab Emirates, although the host country of the next COP in December. The United Kingdom is also not on the program, while its Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, seems, half-heartedly, to return to the objective of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

The European Union will present its climate action plans, as will Brazil, Canada and South Africa. As well as France, whose President Emmanuel Macron is not in New York, and many countries already victims of the consequences of global warming, such as Barbados, Samoa or Tuvalu. Non-state institutional actors, such as the governor of California, the mayor of London, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were also invited.

Anger rises

As anger mounts among climate activists, especially young people, who last weekend once again took to the streets of New York in a march against fossil fuels, observers wait looking forward to seeing what the leaders of Canada and the European Union will say this Wednesday about their own ambitions but also about their financial commitments to help the most vulnerable countries cope with the warming for which they are least responsible.

The failure of rich countries to respect their aid promises to developing countries is a particularly sensitive point in international climate negotiations. A controversy which will undoubtedly be on the menu again at COP28 in a few weeks. In good news, Colombia, which will participate in the summit, and Panama, joined the alliance of countries committing to phasing out coal on Tuesday.

2023-09-20 15:49:04
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