Katowice (Poland), UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called upon the nations to redefine their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to mitigate climate effects and to achieve goals under the Paris Agreement that include disbursement of $100 billion per year for 2020-2025 by rich nations.
In his address at the UN climate negotiations, known as COP24, which saw world leaders and decision-makers getting to work on mitigating climate change in this Polish city, Guterres said: “We need clear moves not only by national governments but also by other actors such as sub-national governments, businesses and investors.
“Over the coming year, the UN Development Programme, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and my team will be supporting national governments as they redefine their NDCs and their long-term strategies,” Guterres said while laying out his vision for the 2019 Climate Summit in New York.
Inviting all nations to attend his climate summit to review the Paris Agreement commitments, he said: “I call on all leaders to come to the summit prepared to address not only their progress towards achieving their goals under the Paris Agreement, but also to outline their plans and progress towards raising their ambition.”
The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, was an essential step to address climate change. It has the central goal of keeping global average temperature rise this century to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to as close as possible to 1.5 degrees.
The Paris Agreement marked a historic turning point. World leaders from across the globe clinched a new, universal agreement under the umbrella of the UNFCCC.
In this UN climate change conference, governments are set to agree on the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement, thereby unleashing its full potential.
Agreeing that the climate mitigations were not on track, Guterres said the summit he will host next September in New York “will help put us on track”.
Outlining its agenda, he said the summit would focus on delivering three key outcomes: Raising real ambition, transformative action in the real economy and an unprecedented citizen and youth mobilization.
On mobilization of finance to adapt climate mitigation plans, the UN Secretary-General said: “A central question in this will be dealing with finance.
“We are now starting a process that we hope will lead to a much stronger mobilization of the financial resources to make sure the Paris decisions, in relation to the mobilization of $100 billion, will be fully met.
“I have asked French President Emmanuel Macron and Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness to lead a process of mobilization of the international community,” said the UN chief.
As Guterres spoke at the Katowice opening climate summit a day earlier, the World Bank Group announced a major new set of climate targets for 2021-2025, doubling its current five-year investments to around $200 billion in support for countries to take ambitious climate action.
The new plan significantly boosts support for adaptation and resilience, recognizing mounting climate change impacts on lives and livelihoods, especially in the world’s poorest countries.
The plan also represents significantly ramped up ambition from the World Bank Group, sending an important signal to the wider global community to do the same.