The race to protect the planet is about to accelerate, as world leaders, business giants, and experts gather to attend the Climate Ambition Summit on Wednesday. There have been many climate meetings, but this one is unique as it will feature only the “first movers and doers” – those leaders who have responded to the Secretary-General’s call for accelerated action to tackle the climate crisis. The list will include national and local governments as well as business leaders, financial institutions and representatives of civil society who come with credible, ambitious actions, plans and policies to show. As such, the Summit aims to champion solutions and inspire more leaders to step up and join the “first movers and doers.”
Here are the top five things one needs to know:
1. Time’s up: The climate crisis affects all people and all nations. Half of the world’s population is already living in danger zones, where they are 15 times more likely to die from related impacts, according to the UN.
2. ‘No nonsense summit’: When the UN chief announced the global event last December, he said he expected “a no-nonsense summit”, with no exceptions and no compromises.
3. Cleaner ambitions: Government leaders, especially major emitters, are expected to deliver report cards. They will report on where the stand on honoring their commitments to such landmark treaties as the Paris Agreement on climate change. In addition, action plans, also called nationally determined contributions, are expected. These will include net-zero targets to pledges towards the Green Climate Fund, which supports developing countries to raise and realize their action plans for lowering emissions and building resilience.
4. Goodbye greenwashing: Leaders of businesses, cities, regions, and financial institutions will be expected to present transition plans aligned with the UN-backed credibility standards as presented in the UN-commissioned Integrity Matters report.
5. Climate justice now! That means considering the world’s tiniest polluters that bear the ever more dangerous burden of the biggest emitters, particularly the G20 countries.
By UN News. September 19, 2023.
