Guterres announces ‘no nonsense’ climate action summit; calls for practical solutions – Saudi Gazette

Guterres announces ‘no nonsense’ climate action summit; calls for practical solutions – Saudi Gazette

NEW YORK — The UN chief said on Monday he was determined to make 2023 “a year for peace” and a “year for action”, highlighting the need for practical solutions to a raft of pressing problems facing all regions of the world.

“We owe it to people to find solutions, to fight back, and to act,” said Secretary-General António Guterres. “At times, discreetly but always with determination, we will fight back.”

Building on his general call to action, Guterres announced that he would convene a Climate Ambition Summit next September, and called on every leader to “step up — from governments, business, cities and regions, civil society and finance.”

Nothing less than tangible and credible climate action would do, but dispensing with diplomatic niceties, he made it clear that the price of entry for every nation, was “non-negotiable credible, serious and new climate action and nature-based solutions that will move the needle forward and respond to the urgency of the climate crisis.”

He said it would be “a no-nonsense summit. No exceptions. No compromises. There will be no room for back-sliders, greenwashers, blame-shifters or repackaging of announcements of previous years.”

The UN chief said it would be convened alongside a General Assembly opening-week summit already