The UN Secretary-General has welcomed President Biden’s steps to re-enter the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and join the growing coalition of governments, cities, states, businesses and people taking ambitious action to confront the climate crisis.
Following last year’s Climate Ambition Summit,
countries producing half of global carbon pollution had committed to carbon
neutrality.
The
commitment by President Biden brings that figure to two-thirds. But there is a
very long way to go. The climate crisis continues to worsen and time is running
out to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and build more
climate-resilient societies that help to protect the most vulnerable.
Antonio Gutteres is looking forward to the
leadership of United States in accelerating global efforts towards net zero,
including by bringing forward a new nationally determined contribution with
ambitious 2030 targets and climate finance in advance of COP26 in Glasgow later
this year.
“I am committed to working closely with
President Biden and other leaders to overcome the climate emergency, and
recover better from COVID19,” he said.
On Wednesday 27 January, the UN
Development Programme (UNDP) and the University of Oxford will launch the
global results of the ‘Peoples' Climate Vote.’ The survey is the biggest ever
on public opinion on climate change and covers 50 countries and more than half
of the world’s population over the age of 14.
The innovative survey was distributed across
mobile gaming apps in order to include hard-to-reach audiences in traditional
polling, like young people under the age of 18. It asked people if they believe
that climate change is a global emergency and the policies – across energy,
economy, food and farms, transportation, protecting people, and nature – that
they would like to see enacted.
