UN Chief Calls for Greater Climate Finance and International Cooperation to Advance Climate Justice
Dragon Media News Desk
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called for stronger international cooperation and increased financial support for developing countries to address climate change. Speaking at a high-level event on Climate Action and the Just Transition at UN headquarters in New York on September 23, he urged world leaders to translate their commitments to climate justice into concrete action without delay.
Guterres emphasized the need to ensure justice in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to the impacts of climate change and providing financial assistance. He said the world was demanding climate justice and that the international community must respond through implementation rather than declarations alone.
The UN chief urged every country to develop a credible roadmap, with clear timelines, for transitioning away from fossil fuels. He stressed that no country could address climate change through its efforts alone and that international cooperation must form the foundation of the global energy transition.
Guterres said the G20 countries, which account for approximately 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, must take the lead in climate action. However, he emphasized that developing countries must not be excluded from global climate policymaking and decision-making processes. He called for the application of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.
The Secretary-General stressed that adequate financial resources were essential for a successful transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. He called for mobilizing at least US$300 billion annually for developing countries and scaling up global climate finance to US$1.3 trillion per year by 2035.
Guterres also urged reforms to the international financial architecture to give developing countries a greater role and called for multilateral development banks to become better resourced, more effective and more ambitious. His message underscored that a just and sustainable global energy transition would be difficult to achieve without adequate financial support for countries affected by climate change.
Describing the present generation as the first to possess the technologies and tools needed to end the fossil fuel era, Guterres called on the international community to use those capabilities effectively before the opportunity to avert climate catastrophe is lost.
