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UN sets six-point climate action plan ─ for sustainable COVID-19 recovery
UN Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres
Kaieteur News – United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres has laid out a six-point positive climate action plan developing countries could use to rebuild economies impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Secretary-General delivered his feature remarks on Thursday, at the flagship event on the occasion of Guyana’s 2020 Chairmanship of the Group of 77 and China.
“We need to use the recovery from COVID-19 to put us back on track with the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals] and win the battle against climate change,” he told the virtual meeting.
Among the recommended actions, the SG proposed an investment in sustainable jobs and services, through a clean and just transition. “Investments must accelerate the decarbonisation of all aspects of respective economies,” SG Guterres said.
He also recommended a clamp-down on polluting industries, advising developing countries against offering any bailouts unless those industries commit to the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement seeks to strengthen the global response to climate change by keeping global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. It also seeks to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the United Nations Framework on Climate Change says.
To this end, the SG also called for an end to subsidies for fossil fuel saying, “carbon must have a price to deliver a market-driven shift to a decarbonised economy. Polluters must pay for their pollution that is harming communities, employees and consumers.”
Countries should also consider climate risks in all their financial decisions and policies. They must work together to better recover from the pandemic, he said.
The transition to a carbon neutral economy must be fair and inclusive, Mr. Guterres stated. “We must leave no one behind. And we must ensure that more women are in decision making positions.”
The Secretary-General noted that the pandemic has already shaken the core of all developing nations. Due to the disease, undernourishment has been on the rise, and childhood vaccinations have been gravely threatened. Education has been severely affected, while focus on other diseases has been disrupted.
The pandemic will see more than 215 million people around the world being pushed into poverty.
The climate action plan could help to reconstruct economies, helping millions of people to get better paying jobs and improving health as polluting industries will be replaced with clean and efficient economies.
The meeting of the G77 and China sought to raise awareness on climate actions amid the pandemic, while moving towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. (DPI)
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