Climate takes center stage at UN as global temperatures hit record
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[September 19, 2023]
By Valerie Volcovici
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With the world on track to break the record for
the hottest year in history, world leaders, business leaders,
celebrities and activists have converged on midtown Manhattan for
Climate Week and the U.N.'s Climate Action Summit, again focusing the
world's attention on the climate crisis.
The annual climate gathering coincides with the start of the United
Nations General Assembly, bringing heads of state and top government
officials together with private-sector leaders to focus on climate
change in a year marked by a record number of billion-dollar disasters,
including eight severe floods.
The main event will take place Wednesday when U.N. Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres will host his own Climate Action Summit, a high-profile
event meant to reverse backsliding on Paris climate agreement goals and
to encourage governments to adopt serious new actions to combat climate
change.
"There is lingering doubt that ... we can meet our climate goals. There
is too much backtracking; so we're really hoping that this summit can be
used as a moment to inspire people," Selwin Hart, special adviser on
climate to the secretary-general, said in an interview.
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As of Monday, the U.N. had not announced which world leaders or
officials would get one of the coveted speaking slots at the climate
summit. Over 100 countries' officials have told Guterres they want to
speak, but his team has been weeding out the applications over the last
few days, prioritizing countries that plan new actions to advance their
previous climate targets.
Hart said the assignment of speaking slots was not intended to embarrass
any leaders or country, but to show that these are the first "that are
getting things done."
The meeting comes 10 weeks before the COP28 climate summit in the United
Arab Emirates, and is one of the last high-profile gatherings aimed at
getting countries to come forward with new climate actions and plans to
shift away from fossil fuels after the G7, G20 and meeting of the BRICs
countries - Brazil, China, South Africa, India and Russia - fell short
of getting leaders to agree to phase out fossil fuels.
The nearly 40-member Alliance of Small Island States will use Climate
Week as a platform to call on the leaders of developed countries to make
stronger moves to end the use of fossil fuels and to support the global
ramp-up of renewable energy such as wind, geothermal and solar power.
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![](../images/091923PIX/news_g1.jpg)
Youth representative Ayakha Melithafa speaks during the opening of
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit 2023, at U.N.
headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 18, 2023.
REUTERS/Mike Segar
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"It is disheartening to witness the lack of ambition on what truly
ails us – emissions from fossil fuels," the small islands alliance
said in a statement. "We implore the international community to use
the platforms of the UNGA and New York Climate Week to signal
unequivocal support for Small Island Developing States," it said,
using the acronym for the U.N. General Assembly.
Climate Week has become a focal point for climate protestors eager
to call out what they see as government inaction and industry
greenwashing - corporations advertising environmental-friendly
actions while continuing to pollute -- amid glossy events and
high-level speeches.
As many as 75,000 activists marched through midtown Manhattan on
Sunday calling for an end to fossil fuels, while hundreds of
protestors planned disruptive action near Wall Street on Monday to
demand an end to fossil fuel financing.
"We’ve had enough false promises, greenwashing, and half measures.
Countries must deliver by coming to the Summit with clear plans to
immediately end oil and gas expansion and policies for a fast and
fair phase out of all fossil fuels," said Romain Ioualalen, global
diplomacy manager at Oil Change International, a nongovernmental
organization (NGO) focused on phasing out fossil fuel production.
Meanwhile, at several hotel ballrooms and other venues across
Manhattan, around 2,600 people have registered for in-person
attendance at Climate Week events featuring over 200 speakers from
the private sector, governments and nongovernmentalion (NGOs.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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