"Top-polluting nations were absent from the event. One activist compared the new climate pledges announced at the summit to “trying to put out an inferno with a leaking hose.”"
"For a conference aimed at inspiring world leaders to dramatically ramp up their efforts to combat climate change, the United Nations’ Climate Ambition Summit was anything but ambitious.
That’s the message from climate activists after the day-long special summit came to a close without any notable commitments from the nations most responsible for causing global warming. The event was held Wednesday in New York City during the U.N. General Assembly.
“There is simply a huge mismatch between the depth of actions governments and businesses are taking and the transformative shifts that are needed to address the climate crisis,” David Waskow, director of the World Resources Institute’s International Climate Initiative, wrote in a statement shortly after the summit adjourned. “And some of the biggest emitters were noticeably absent from the stage.”
But the countries missing from the talks—the United States, China, India, Russia, France and the United Kingdom—were left out by design. The leaders of those nations, which altogether account for more than half the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions, were not invited by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to speak at the summit in order to send a message: Step up your climate game or we’re all in trouble."
Kristoffer Tigue reports for Inside Climate News September 22, 2023.
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