Nations must declare climate emergency, says Guterres

New York, Dec 12 : Nations should declare a state of climate emergency until the world has reached net zero carbon emissions, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told a summit of world leaders on Saturday.
“Can anybody still deny that we are facing a dramatic emergency?” he said at the virtual Climate Ambition Summit to mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement that aims to limit temperature rise to as close to 1.5 degrees.
“That is why today, I call on all leaders worldwide to declare a state of climate emergency in their countries until carbon neutrality is reached. Some 38 countries have already done so, recognizing the urgency and the stakes,” he said.
The United Nations, Britain and France co-convened the Climate Ambition Summit 2020, in partnership with Chile and Italy, exactly five years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement.
The summit is a major step on the road to the next UN Climate Conference, COP26, which will be hosted by the UK next November in Glasgow.
Guterres said the recovery from Covid-19 presents an opportunity to set the economies and societies on a green path in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.