Actor Leonardo Dicaprio made a strong appeal to world leaders at the United Nations Climate Summit on Tuesday in his role as climate activist and UN messenger of peace. Dicaprio both goaded and implored governments to take decisive action against climate change. “Every week we're seeing new and undeniable climate events, evidence that accelerated climate change is here right now," the actor said. “You can make history or you can be vilified by it.”
No commitments or formal agreements were expected from the summit. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon convened the meeting with the purpose of encouraging governments to pledge action against climate change now and to get the ball rolling towards climate talks in Lima in December and the all-important climate conference in Paris in 2015.
Ban asked heads of states to lead the way to ensure that carbon emissions peak in 2020, decline sharply thereafter and for the world to become carbon neutral by the end of the century. “The human, environmental and financial cost of climate change is fast becoming unbearable. We have never faced such a challenge, nor such an opportunity,” Ban said. “There is only one thing in the way: us. That is why I have asked you to be here today.”
United States President Barack Obama said the US recognized its role in creating the problem and was ready to combat it. “None of this is without controversy. In each of our countries, there are interests that will be resistant to action. And in each country, there is a suspicion that if we act and other countries don't that we will be at an economic disadvantage. But we have to lead,” Obama said.
The absence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping was seen as a major setback to the summit. Both countries are crucial to any international climate agreement because of their large populations and growing economies. Despite this, and criticism that governments had left industry and civil society to do all the heavy lifting, some concrete steps emerged from the summit.
1) Capitalising the Green Climate Fund
France pledged $1 billion to the Green Climate Fund, a fund set up to help poor countries adapt to the effects climate change that up till recently has been lying empty. This is the first significant contribution since Germany pledged $1 billion to the fund in July. Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Mexico and South Korea have also committed to bolstering the fund. But the fund, at $2.3 billion right now, is far short of its target of at least $10 billion.
2) More climate finance
Speaking at the summit China Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said China would give the UN Secretary General $6 million to promote South-South cooperation on climate change. The European Union promised $18 billion of climate finance to its partners outside the economic bloc. Norway promised $500 million every year to combat climate change. In all, the summit mobilised more than $200 billion from governments, investors and financial institutions by the end of 2015.
3) Agreeing to end deforestation
More than 130 governments, companies, people’s groups and NGOs signed the New York Forests Declaration that pledged to reduce forest losses to half the current rate by 2020 and end deforestation by 2030. The declaration also calls for the reforestation of 350 million hectares of land, an area bigger than India.
4) New climate coalitions and alliances
The summit saw support for a global price on carbon from national and regional governments, and more than 1,000 businesses and investors. A new Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition with the purpose of strengthening carbon-pricing policies. A global alliance for climate-smart agriculture was launched with an eye on achieving food security for nine billion people by 2050. The alliance of governments, major corporations like McDonald’s and Kellogs, and civil society members of supposed to ensure that, by 2030, 500 million farmers can safeguard crops against climate change. A new global Compact of Mayors of more than 2,000 cities was formed to help cut greenhouse gases from urban areas.
5) Cutting methane and HFCs
Oil and gas companies like ENI of Italy, Statoil Group of Norway and the BG Group joined oil producing countries the US, UK, France, Norway and Russia in a first-of-its-kind commitment to identify and reduce methane emissions by 2020. Corporations also stepped forward to cut hydroflourcarbons in refrigeration and food storage.
Other commitments from the summit were the expansion of renewable energy in Africa and small island nations and schemes for low-carbon transport.
India's environment minister Prakash Javadekar said at the UN meeting of major economies that developing countries need more time and flexibility to address climate change. Javadekar emphasised that the onus should be more on developed countries strengthening their commitments. The main priorities of developing countries, he said, were socio-economic development and poverty eradication.
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No commitments or formal agreements were expected from the summit. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon convened the meeting with the purpose of encouraging governments to pledge action against climate change now and to get the ball rolling towards climate talks in Lima in December and the all-important climate conference in Paris in 2015.
Ban asked heads of states to lead the way to ensure that carbon emissions peak in 2020, decline sharply thereafter and for the world to become carbon neutral by the end of the century. “The human, environmental and financial cost of climate change is fast becoming unbearable. We have never faced such a challenge, nor such an opportunity,” Ban said. “There is only one thing in the way: us. That is why I have asked you to be here today.”
United States President Barack Obama said the US recognized its role in creating the problem and was ready to combat it. “None of this is without controversy. In each of our countries, there are interests that will be resistant to action. And in each country, there is a suspicion that if we act and other countries don't that we will be at an economic disadvantage. But we have to lead,” Obama said.
The absence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping was seen as a major setback to the summit. Both countries are crucial to any international climate agreement because of their large populations and growing economies. Despite this, and criticism that governments had left industry and civil society to do all the heavy lifting, some concrete steps emerged from the summit.
1) Capitalising the Green Climate Fund
France pledged $1 billion to the Green Climate Fund, a fund set up to help poor countries adapt to the effects climate change that up till recently has been lying empty. This is the first significant contribution since Germany pledged $1 billion to the fund in July. Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Mexico and South Korea have also committed to bolstering the fund. But the fund, at $2.3 billion right now, is far short of its target of at least $10 billion.
2) More climate finance
Speaking at the summit China Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said China would give the UN Secretary General $6 million to promote South-South cooperation on climate change. The European Union promised $18 billion of climate finance to its partners outside the economic bloc. Norway promised $500 million every year to combat climate change. In all, the summit mobilised more than $200 billion from governments, investors and financial institutions by the end of 2015.
3) Agreeing to end deforestation
More than 130 governments, companies, people’s groups and NGOs signed the New York Forests Declaration that pledged to reduce forest losses to half the current rate by 2020 and end deforestation by 2030. The declaration also calls for the reforestation of 350 million hectares of land, an area bigger than India.
4) New climate coalitions and alliances
The summit saw support for a global price on carbon from national and regional governments, and more than 1,000 businesses and investors. A new Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition with the purpose of strengthening carbon-pricing policies. A global alliance for climate-smart agriculture was launched with an eye on achieving food security for nine billion people by 2050. The alliance of governments, major corporations like McDonald’s and Kellogs, and civil society members of supposed to ensure that, by 2030, 500 million farmers can safeguard crops against climate change. A new global Compact of Mayors of more than 2,000 cities was formed to help cut greenhouse gases from urban areas.
5) Cutting methane and HFCs
Oil and gas companies like ENI of Italy, Statoil Group of Norway and the BG Group joined oil producing countries the US, UK, France, Norway and Russia in a first-of-its-kind commitment to identify and reduce methane emissions by 2020. Corporations also stepped forward to cut hydroflourcarbons in refrigeration and food storage.
Other commitments from the summit were the expansion of renewable energy in Africa and small island nations and schemes for low-carbon transport.
India's environment minister Prakash Javadekar said at the UN meeting of major economies that developing countries need more time and flexibility to address climate change. Javadekar emphasised that the onus should be more on developed countries strengthening their commitments. The main priorities of developing countries, he said, were socio-economic development and poverty eradication.