"UNITED NATIONS - Faced with what they see as an existential threat, leaders from low-lying and island nations implored rich countries at the United Nations General Assembly this week to act more forcefully against a warming planet.
The failure by developed economies to effectively curb their greenhouse gas emissions contributes to rising sea levels and especially imperils island and low-lying nations at the mercy of water.
“We simply have no higher ground to cede,” Marshall Islands President David Kabua told leaders in a pre-recorded speech at the high-level gathering on Wednesday. “The world simply cannot delay climate ambition any further.”
Countries agreed under the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation to attempt to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), the threshold scientists say would head off the worst impacts of warming. To do that, scientists say, the world needs to cut global emissions in half by 2030, and to net-zero by 2050."
Daphne Psaledakis and Michelle Nichols report for Reuters September 23, 2021.
SEE ALSO:
"A Climate Reckoning Is Coming for the World’s Government Debt" (Bloomberg Green)
"Leaders to UN: A Warmer World Is A More Violent One, Too" (AP)
"Analysis: China's Pledge To Cut Project Finance Is The 'New Normal' For Coal" (Reuters)
"SE Asia Govts Must Back ADB Plan To Close Coal Plants With Regulation -Report" (Reuters)
Advertisement 
