UN Commends Efforts to Boost Net-zero Climate Change Fight

On Thursday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres hailed the launching of new advisory high-level expert group to boost net-zero climate change fight.

During a meeting to create a new brains’ trust to make the commitments on net zero, Guterres pointed out that net-zero standards at every level of activity, and strengthened accountability around implementing those goals, would deliver real and immediate emissions cuts.

In the same connection, he urged private investors businesses, cities, states and regions, to do more to cut harmful greenhouse gas emissions, launching a new group of experts to help with realizing a net-zero future.

Mr. Guterres warned: “Despite growing pledges of climate action, global emissions are at an all-time high and they continue to rise,” adding that “the latest science shows that climate disruption is causing havoc in every region already.

The key objective is to stop global temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels – as the international community agreed in Paris in 2015, according to UN officials.

However, the UN chief warned that the world was losing the race to reduce global temperature rise.

Governments had the biggest responsibility to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century – “especially the G20” industrialized nations he said - before calling on “every business, investor, city, state and region to walk the talk on their net-zero promises”.

"Lately, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has demonstrated that nearly half of humanity is already in the danger zone”, he said.

“If we don’t see significant and sustained emissions reductions this decade, the window of opportunity to keep 1.5 alive will be closed – and closed forever. And that will be a disaster for everyone.”

Last year, the Secretary-General flagged at COP26 the need for “more credible and robust standards and criteria for measuring, analyzing and reporting on the net-zero pledges by non-State entities.

“Today we take a step towards meeting that need and ensuring the highest standards of environmental integrity and transparency. To avert a climate catastrophe, we need bold pledges but matched by concrete, measurable action.”