UN chief focuses on ‘drivers’ and excludes US, China from climate summit

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 19 (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will bring together heads of state and business leaders he has identified as taking stronger action on climate change on Wednesday for a meeting aimed at building momentum. before the COP28 climate summit.

Missing from the list of 34 speakers representing countries at the Guterres Climate Ambition Summit are the world’s biggest emitters, China and the United States, as well as the United Arab Emirates, host of the COP28 meeting in December.

The summit will feature speeches from leaders who are heeding his call to “accelerate” global climate action, including Brazil, Canada, the European Union, Pakistan, South Africa and Tuvalu.

Guterres said one goal was to spur action by countries and companies whose climate plans were not in line with the global climate goal.

Non-member states and international financial institutions that will have speaking slots include Allianz. (ALVG.DE)the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the city of London and the state of California.

US special envoy for climate change John Kerry will attend the summit but will not deliver a speech, a spokesman said.

The Secretary-General’s office has maintained close control over the list of invited speakers. Guterres’ climate adviser Selwin Hart said in an interview with Reuters this week that the purpose of the summit was not to “shame” countries or companies that didn’t make the cut, but to inspire more action by others.

Criteria for a leader to be selected to speak include proposals to update their country’s climate plan by 2030; updated targets to achieve net-zero energy transition plans that commit to using no new oil, gas or coal; and plans to phase out fossil fuels.

New climate finance commitments or adaptation plans are also among the criteria for countries to participate.

For companies, cities and financial institutions, the UN requires them to represent transition plans aligned with UN integrity recommendations, emissions reduction targets for 2025 that include indirect emissions, as well as plans to phase out fossil fuels that they do not depend on carbon offsetting.

Guterres has been forthright in his public assessment of countries’ climate actions and whether they will meet the Paris agreement’s goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

“I’m not sure all leaders are feeling the pressure. Actions are being abysmally insufficient,” he said in his opening remarks to the UN General Assembly.

A report published by the UN earlier this month said existing national commitments to reduce emissions were insufficient to keep temperatures within the 1.5C threshold. More than 20 gigatonnes of additional CO2 reductions were needed this decade – and zero global net emissions by 2050 – to meet the targets.

China’s mission to the United Nations and the United Arab Emirates did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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