UN chief Ban Ki Moon calls world to act

From Saidul Khan

MARRAKECH, NOV 15: UN general secretary Ban Ki Moon today urged heads of state and government to lead climate action and live upto the expectation and fulfill the commitments of Paris Agreement and outcome of COP22.

He stressed on the fact that the world have to come up with strategies to mitigate climate change aggressively by 2018 and make a transition from fossil fuel to renewal energy.

Moon was addressing delegations from across the globe in presence of King of Morocco Mohammed VI, COP22 president Salaheddine Mezouar, United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) executive secretary Patricia Espinosa amongst a host of other dignitaries.

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Anil Madhav Dave was also present for the opening ceremony of the joint high-level segment of the conference of parties (COP22), which begins tomorrow here.

“The Paris Agreement (PA) is a new dawn for global climate action. Countries have strongly supported the agreement in their own national interest by pursuing the common goals. It has to be translated into complete goal to protect and safeguard humanity”, said Moon.

Moon has been part of 10 COPs and COP22 at Marrakech is his last.

“In the last decade, I have learnt six important lessons and have kept the climate change action as the top global priority”, he stated.

He asked the world to act together to achieve the goals for climate mitigation. “Heads of state, government and political leadership have to understand the importance of climate mitigation and come together to fight it”, he added.

He also lauded the contribution and collaboration from companies, government and NGOs, who have contributed towards global commitments and actions.

He asked the world to rely on science and work on mechanism to reduce emission, so that the target of 1.5 degree Celsius can be achieved by 2020.

Talking about disasters across the globe, Moon said, “One million people submerged within this century due to disasters. This has caused massive waves of migration. We have to make choices today so that we are prepared for the catastrophic impact for thousands of years to come”.

“We have no right to gamble for the future generation. We have to fund and expand clean energy sources and reshape our environment in a more resilient manner. We have to advance progress and invest in resilient approaches”, Moon said.

He also urged the world to honour the commitment of Paris Agreement of raising 100 billion dollars to mitigate climate vulnerability.