G7 must lead way on tackling global warming – UN climate chief
TURIN, Italy: UN climate chief Simon Stiell on Monday told G7 countries it was «utter nonsense» to claim they could not take bolder actions to tackle global warming.
The G7 is holding its first big political meeting on climate since the UN's annual negotiations in Dubai in November.
«I often hear in forums like this one that, 'we cannot possibly move too far forward, lest we predetermine the outcome of negotiations'» at the UN level, Stiell told environment ministers meeting in Turin.
Dead This photograph taken on Feb. 26, 2024 shows the remains of a dead tree affected by soil salinization at a beach in the coastal village of Satabhaya in Kendrapada district, in India’s eastern state of Odisha. Rising global temperatures driven by human activity have led to a consequent rise in global sea levels, with the melting of polar ice caps. Odisha, where millions of people live in coastal settlements along the Bay of Bengal, is particularly vulnerable to the encroaching waters. AFP PHOTO«It is utter nonsense to claim the G7 cannot — or should not — lead the way on bolder climate actions,» Stiell, who leads the United Nations climate change organization, said.
The Group of Seven industrialized nations, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US, is meeting in the northern Italian city for two days of environment and climate talks.
Stiell said there was «no reason» why the world's largest developed economies «cannot collaborate to make bolder strides,» which would «boost what is possible within the global climate negotiations.»
Advertisement«G7 leading from the front — particularly through much deeper emissions cuts, and bigger and better climate finance this year — is not only entirely doable,» he said. «It is essential if we are to avoid a global economic disaster.»
The 2015 Paris Agreement saw countries agree to cap global warming at «well below» 2 C above preindustrial times — with a safer limit of 1.5 C if possible.
To keep the 1.5 C limit in play, the UN's climate expert panel has said emissions need to be slashed almost in half this decade.
But they continue to rise, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels.
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