NEW YORK (United Nations), Dec.24 (Xinhua) – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is pleased with the progress in tackling climate change globally, but sad at the lack of international cooperation in the face of the new coronavirus pandemic, its spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Thursday.
Asked about Mr Guterres’ greatest pride and regret for 2020, he replied that one of the things the UN boss could be most proud of was seeing things start to move on the climate. . “It is an issue that he tackled in China, Japan, India with a strong message. And we have seen things move.”
At the Climate Ambition Summit on December 12, very important member states made a commitment to carbon neutrality and the reduction of CO2 emissions, although much remains to be done, noted Dujarric.
“I think this reflects the hard work he has had to put into this file over the past year.”
As for Mr. Guterres’ regret for 2020, Mr. Dujarric named the lack of real international cooperation in the face of COVID-19 and the consequences of the pandemic. We should have had closer coordination and cooperation from the first days of the scourge, he lamented.
Mr. Guterres is currently spending the holiday season with his family in Portugal and will return to New York on January 4, his spokesperson said.
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