Speaker A
Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, I am pleased to be with you today to discuss the defining issue of our times.
UN Secretary-General urges urgent climate action, convenes a September 2019 Climate Action Summit, and calls on leaders to bring concrete plans for 45% emissions cuts by 2030 and net zero by 2050.
Key Takeaways
- Climate change is an immediate, universal threat that disproportionately harms the poor and vulnerable.
- Climate action can simultaneously advance development, health, and economic goals.
- Leaders must bring concrete, ambitious plans to the 2019 Climate Action Summit, including 45% emissions cuts by 2030 and net zero by 2050.
- The transition must be just and inclusive, protecting workers and including women in decision-making.
- Ending fossil fuel subsidies, pricing carbon, and scaling renewables are essential steps.
What the video covers
- Climate change is already causing devastation worldwide, with the poor and vulnerable hit hardest, as illustrated by Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.
- Climate change threatens decades of development progress and the goals of inclusive, sustainable development.
- Tackling climate change can accelerate development through cleaner air, better public health, and greater security.
- The Paris Agreement, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the 2015 agreement provide the tools needed; the speaker calls for action, ambition, and political will.
- The IPCC says there are less than 12 years to avoid potentially irreversible climate disruption, and limiting warming to 1.5°C requires rapid transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities.
- The Secretary-General is convening a Climate Action Summit in New York on 23 September, asking leaders to bring concrete, realistic plans rather than speeches.
- Leaders are asked to enhance nationally determined contributions by 2020, cut greenhouse gas emissions by 45% over the next decade, and reach global net zero by 2050.
- Plans should ensure a just transition, highlight benefits such as job creation and reduced pollution, and include women as key decision makers.
- The summit will focus on the energy transition, sustainable infrastructure, agriculture, forests and oceans, climate resilience, and the green economy, with solar and onshore wind now the cheapest new power sources in most major economies.
- Radical change requires ending fossil fuel subsidies, implementing carbon pricing, phasing out coal, and ensuring infrastructure investment is sustainable; youth climate marches are highlighted as a call for leaders to act.
Chapters
- 00:00Opening and framing the climate challenge
- 00:27Climate devastation and Cyclone Idai
- 01:49Threats to development and opportunities of climate action
- 02:38Existing agreements and the call for political will
- 03:36IPCC warnings and the Climate Action Summit
- 04:24Emissions targets and benefits of climate action
- 05:43Summit focus areas and growing momentum
- 06:38Radical change, subsidies, and just transition
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
And I thank the President of the General Assembly for choosing to place the focus on this event on present and future generations.
Speaker A
Climate change is happening now and to all of us. Every week brings a new example of climate-related devastation.
Speaker A
No country or community is immune. And, as is always the case, the poor and vulnerable are the first to suffer and the worst hit.
Speaker A
My heart goes out to the hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people affected by the recent Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.
Speaker A
Such events are becoming more frequent, more severe, and more widespread, and will become even worse unless we act urgently now.
Speaker A
It is clear that climate change threatens decades of development progress and places in jeopardy all our plans for inclusive and sustainable development.
Speaker A
From increased poverty and food insecurity to growing water stress and accelerated environmental damage, climate change is a clear and present threat.
Speaker A
Yet, it is also true that tackling climate change provides an opportunity to consolidate and accelerate development gains through cleaner air, improved public health, and greater security for nations and economies.
Speaker A
We have no excuse not to act. We have the tools to answer the questions posed by climate change, environmental pressure, poverty, and inequality.
Speaker A
They lie in the great agreement of 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Speaker A
But tools are no use if you don't use them. And so today and every day, my appeal is clear and simple.
Speaker A
We need action, ambition, and political will. More action, more ambition, and more political will.
Speaker A
Last December in Katowice, Poland, parties to the United Nations Climate Convention agreed a work plan for the Paris Agreement, so it can unleash its full potential.
Speaker A
And the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said we have less than 12 years to avoid potentially irreversible climate disruption.
Speaker A
Last year's IPCC special report found that limiting global warming to 1.5° above pre-industrial levels will require rapid and far-reaching transitions in how we manage land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities.
Speaker A
To help generate ambition, and to show that our goals are feasible, I am convening a climate action summit.
Speaker A
And I am telling leaders: in September, please don't come with a speech. Come with a plan.
Speaker A
I am calling on leaders to come to New York on the 23rd of September with concrete, realistic plans to put us, once and for all, on a sustainable path.
Speaker A
And these plans must show how to enhance the nationally determined contributions by 2020. The United Nations, with its new generation of country teams, stands ready to assist.
Speaker A
And I also want leaders to demonstrate how we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% over the next decade, and get to net zero emissions globally by 2050.
Speaker A
That is what science says is needed. And I will also ask leaders to address issues such as the just transition, where no one is left disadvantaged by the necessary climate action.
Speaker A
And I will ask them to demonstrate the many benefits of climate action, such as job creation, reduced air pollution, and improved public health.
Speaker A
We all know that the green economy is the future, but we must make sure that everyone benefits and no one is left behind.
Speaker A
And I am also counting on leaders to make sure their plans include women as key decision makers.
Speaker A
Only gender-diverse decision-making has the capacity to tackle the different needs that will emerge in this coming period of critical transformation.
Speaker A
Excellencies, the Climate Action Summit will bring together governments, the private sector, civil society, local authorities, and other international organizations to showcase and develop the ambitious solutions we need.
Speaker A
It will focus on the energy transition, sustainable infrastructure, sustainable agriculture, forests and oceans, resilience to climate impacts, and investing in the green economy.
Speaker A
And we can already see a growing momentum for transformational change. A growing number of governments, cities, and businesses understand that climate solutions can strengthen our economies and protect our environment at the same time.
Speaker A
And new technologies are already delivering energy at a lower cost than the fossil fuel-driven economy.
Speaker A
Solar and onshore wind are now the cheapest sources of new power in virtually all major economies.
Speaker A
But we must set radical change in motion. This means ending subsidies for fossil fuels and high-emitting, unsustainable agriculture, and shifting towards renewable energy, electric vehicles, and climate-smart practices.
Speaker A
It means carbon pricing that reflects the true cost of emissions, from climate risk to the health hazards of air pollution.
Speaker A
And it means accelerating the closure of coal plants, halting the construction of new ones, and replacing those jobs with healthy alternatives for the people there employed, so the transformation is just, inclusive, and profitable.
Speaker A
The coming years will see vast investment in infrastructure around the world. We must ensure it is sustainable and climate-friendly.
Speaker A
By doing so, we will march far down the road to realizing the 2030 Agenda.
Speaker A
Excellencies, the time for action is now. We need multilateral action by all governments, and we need them to work hand in hand with the private sector and civil society.
Speaker A
Global climate marches are sending a clear message. Young people are demanding that today's leaders act on behalf of future generations.
Speaker A
I echo that demand. The youth are torchbearers, and the future is now. We must address this global emergency with ambition and urgency.
Speaker A
This really is only when the that real that really is the only choice to be made. Thank you.
Topics:climate changeParis Agreementsustainable developmentUN Climate Action Summitnet zero emissionsrenewable energyjust transitioncarbon pricingCyclone IdaiIPCC
