United Nations published this video item, entitled “Climate Action & other topics – Daily Briefing (02 December 2020)” – below is their description.
Noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
– Secretary-General/Climate
– Climate Change Reports
– Secretary-General/Lebanon
– Ethiopia
– Libya
– Nigeria
– Rohingya
– COVID-19/Wages
– Iran
– International Day For the Abolition of Slavery
SECRETARY-GENERAL/CLIMATE
This morning, the Secretary-General spoke at Columbia University’s World Leaders Forum on climate change.
He said that the lesson we must learn from 2020 is that we need to transform our relationship with nature and with each other, and he stressed that we must move forward together. “Solidarity is survival,” he said, and he reiterated his call to all countries to implement plans to become carbon neutral by 2050.
The Secretary-General said the pandemic and the climate crisis have brought us to a threshold, but he said we have the solutions we need to make 2021 the year in which we leap forward to carbon neutrality.
CLIMATE CHANGE REPORTS
Staying on the topic of climate, I want to flag two reports that were issued today.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) launched its Production Gap Report, which says that governments must wind down fossil fuel production by 6 per cent per year to limit catastrophic warming.
The report measures the gap between Paris Agreement goals and countries’ planned production of coal, oil, and gas. It found that the “production gap” remains large: countries plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with a 1.5°C temperature limit.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) today launched its State of the Climate Report, which says that 2020 is on track to be one of the three warmest years on record. Ocean heat is also at record levels and more than 80 per cent of the global ocean experienced a marine heatwave this year, with widespread repercussions for marine ecosystems already suffering with more acidic waters due to carbon dioxide absorption.
SECRETARY-GENERAL/LEBANON
The Secretary-General today is speaking, by pre-recorded video message, at the International Conference in Support of the Lebanese People.
Four months after the 4th of August explosion in Beirut, Mr. Guterres will thank the international community for its support and technical expertise.
But he is also warning that the pandemic is another factor aggravating the country’s already fragile economic situation.
Poverty is increasing and, he will add that the Lebanese people have been waiting for the formation of a new government with the capacity to implement needed reforms.
The new “Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework,” prepared jointly by the World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations, is designed to help the Lebanese people move beyond the emergency phase and onto the path for longer-term recovery and reconstruction.
As the framework begins its implementation, the Secretary-General will call for continued engagement of non-governmental stakeholders and for the voices of the people to be heard, as well as for more support for the urgent needs of families and businesses.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=02%20December%202020
United Nations YouTube Channel
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