As the threat of climate change and its adverse effects mount, the adoption of green energy and the reduction of dependence on fossil fuels have become more important than ever. During the ongoing Climate Ambition Summit at the UN, calls were made to stop fossil fuel burning. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his speech, addressed the pressing issue of the rise in global temperature by 2.8 degrees, terming it as the “gates to hell.” “Climate action is dwarfed by the scale of the challenge,” he added.

The UN Secretary-General is hosting a Climate Ambition Summit at the United Nations headquarters in New York to hear from “first movers and doers” and to encourage action by governments, corporations, finance, local governments, etc.

Urging the “first movers and doers” to provide the updated pre-2030 NDCs as agreed upon at the Glasgow climate conference in 2021, the Secretary-General talked about the updated net-zero objectives, energy transition plans with promises of no new coal, oil, or gas, fossil fuel phase-out plans, more aggressive renewable energy targets, and contributions to the Green Climate Fund. He also reiterated his faith that the world can still limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees.

The absence of some of the largest carbon emitters raised questions in the assembly as the US, China, India, etc., skipped the Summit being held in New York.

-Anushka Upadhyay