United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres has reiterated the urgent need for more direct and substantial support for developing countries, which are experiencing the harshest effects of climate change despite contributing the least to global emissions.
His remarks came as 17 national leaders from major economies and climate-vulnerable nations virtually gathered to discuss accelerating global climate action ahead of the Climate Change Conference of the Parties (CoP30), which will be hosted in Brazil.
“Africa and other parts of the developing world are experiencing faster warming, and the Pacific islands are seeing faster sea-level rise, even while the global average itself is accelerating,” Guterres said.
He then called on countries to deliver a credible roadmap to mobilise $1.3 trillion per year for developing nations by 2035, double adaptation finance to $40 billion this year, and increase contributions to the new Loss and Damage Fund created at CoP28.
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The summit, which included representatives from China, the European Union, the African Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and small island developing states, was part of a joint strategy by the UN and Brazil to strengthen global action under the Paris Agreement and build momentum for stronger national climate plans to be announced in 2025.
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The two-hour closed-door session, described by Guterres as one of the most diverse meetings of national leaders focused exclusively on climate, carried what is seen as a powerful unifying message.
“As we heard today, the world is moving forward. Full-speed ahead. No group or government can stop the clean energy revolution,” Guterres declared at a press briefing afterwards.
Many leaders pledged to deliver ambitious new climate plans, formally known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), as soon as possible.
Guterres also confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping had committed to updating China’s NDCs to cover all economic sectors and all greenhouse gases—a development the UN chief hailed as “extremely important” for advancing climate action.
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“These pledges provide a vital opportunity to chart a bold path for the next decade and, most importantly, to speed up a just transition away from fossil fuels to renewables,” Guterres said.
He also pointed to the rapid fall in the costs of renewable energy as one of the most promising developments for tackling climate change.
“Science is on our side, and economics have shifted.
The clean energy sector is booming—creating jobs and boosting competitiveness and growth worldwide,” Guterres said.
While global projections for warming have declined since the 2015 Paris Agreement—from over 4°C this century to 2.6°C if current plans are implemented— Guterres reminded the leaders that this still falls short of the Paris target of limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
He called on nations to submit climate plans that align with that target and commit to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
When climate negotiators and government officials from Least Developed Countries (LDCs) recently convened in Blantyre for a climate change strategy meeting, Minister of Natural Resources Owen Chomanika challenged the delegates to develop strategies that will assist their countries in graduating to middle-income status.
The summit marked the first major gathering of the group of 45 countries spanning Africa, the Asia-Pacific and the Caribbean since the CoP29 summit in Baku last year.
Chomanika said the over one billion people living in LDCs continue to bear the brunt of the effects of climate change.
The minister called for real action to secure finance, ensuring that people have access to adaptation support and clean energy solutions.
“But grants and loans are not enough. LDCs must come up with sustainable ways of climate financing to achieve climate resilience,” he said.
