Amid U.S. doubt, UN chief says climate deal essential, 'get on board'

Record ID: 877349

  • Title: Amid U.S. doubt, UN chief says climate deal essential, 'get on board'
  • Date: 30th May 2017
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MAY 30, 2017) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES WALKING TO PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES, SAYING: "Allow me to be blunt. The world is in a mess. Countries and communities everywhere are facing pressures that are being exacerbated by mega-trends like population growth, rapid and many times chaotic urbanization, food insecurity, water scarcity, massive movements of population and the list can go on and on. But one overriding mega-trend is far and away at the top of that list - climate change. Climate change is a direct threat in itself, but (also) a multiplier of many other threats from poverty, to displacement, to conflict. The effects of climate change are already being felt around the world and they are dangerous and they are accelerating. And so my argument today is that it is absolutely essential that the world implements the Paris Agreement and that we fulfill that duty with increased ambition. And the reason is three fold. Climate change is undeniable. Climate action is unstoppable. And climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable." GUTERRES TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES, SAYING: "If any government doubts the global will and need for this accord, that is reason for all others to unite even stronger and stay the course." GUTERRES TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES, SAYING: "The real danger is not the threat to one's economy that comes from acting. It is instead the risk to one's economy by failing to act. And the message is simple: the sustainability train has left the station. Get on board or get left behind." AUDIENCE APPLAUSE AS GUTERRES ENDS HIS SPEECH
  • Embargoed: 13th June 2017 22:08
  • Keywords: climate change environment NYU UN Antonio Guterres Trump Paris climate
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Environment,Climate Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016J17RK7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Climate change is undeniable and unstoppable and it is "absolutely essential" the world fight the problem together, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres argued on Tuesday (May 30), as U.S. President Donald Trump considers pulling out of the Paris climate deal.
    Trump refused to endorse the landmark climate change accord at a summit of the G7 group of wealthy nations on Saturday, saying he needed more time to decide. He then tweeted that he would make an announcement this week.
    "If any government doubts the global will and need for this accord, that is reason for all others to unite even stronger and stay the course," Guterres said during an address on climate change at New York University.
    "The message is simple: the sustainability train has left the station. Get on board or get left behind," he said. "The real danger is not the threat to one's economy that comes from acting. It is instead the risk to one's economy by failing to act."
    Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax, has come under concerted pressure from other world leaders to honor the 2015 Paris Agreement, the first to bind all nations to setting goals to curb carbon emissions.
    The United States is the world's biggest economy and the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China.
    "The world is in a mess," Guterres said. "It is absolutely essential that the world implements the Paris Agreement."
    "Climate change is undeniable. Climate action is unstoppable. And climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable," he said, describing the effects as "dangerous and accelerating."
    Guterres said he intends to convene a climate summit in 2019 to review implementation of the global climate deal. He said that currently 147 parties representing more than 82 percent of greenhouse gas emissions have ratified the Paris agreement.
    Big emitters led by China, the European Union and India have reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris deal, which seeks to phase out greenhouse gas emissions this century by shifting to clean energies. By contrast, Trump wants to favor U.S. coal.
    A U.N. panel of climate scientists says it is at least 95 percent probable that man-made greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, are the main cause of climate change since 1950.
    Global average temperatures have hit record highs in each of the past three years, and warming is projected to cause worsening droughts, sea level rises, floods, heat waves and extinctions of wildlife.
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