Climate action must not be delayed by global crises, UN talks told

Climate action must not be delayed by global crises, UN talks told

PARIS: Negotiators from almost 200 countries met in Germany Monday for climate talks tasked with reigniting momentum on tackling global warming, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine overshadows the threat from rising emissions. The conference will set the stage for a fresh round of major United Nations talks later this year in Egypt. It will also be a chance to test the resolve of nations facing a catalogue of crises, including escalating climate impacts, geopolitical tensions, bloodshed in Ukraine and the threat of a devastating global food crisis.

Issuing a call for international unity to hold firm, outgoing UN climate change chief Patricia Espinosa told delegates it was “not acceptable to say that we are in challenging times”. “We must understand that climate change is moving exponentially. We can no longer afford to make just incremental progress,” she said at the opening of the June 6 to 16 meeting.

“We must move these negotiations along more quickly. The world expects it.” Governments have already accepted that climate change is a grave threat to humanity and the planet, and have advocated immediate action to cut fossil fuel emissions and prepare for the accelerating impacts of warming.

The summary to this year’s landmark climate report from the