Earth Protect Blog

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES » U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres took his global message urging immediate climate action to officials gathered in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, where production of hydrocarbons remains a key driver of the economy.

Guterres is calling on governments to stop building new coal plants by 2020, cut greenhouse emissions by 45 percent over the next decade and overhauling fossil fuel-driven economies with new technologies such as solar and wind. The world, he said, “is facing a grave climate emergency.”In remarks at a summit in Abu Dhabi, he painted a grim picture of how rapidly climate change is advancing, saying it is outpacing efforts to address it.

He lauded the Paris climate accord, but said even if its promises are fully met, the world still faces what he described as a catastrophic 3-degree temperature rise by the end of the century.