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13:40

Our common objective must be a just transition, UN chief

The UN Secretary-General was listening to the interventions of Heads of State, CEOs and experts, and he came back at the end of the Roundtable to share his thoughts.

The main takeaway for Mr. Guterres was that a common conclusion has been reached: the global climate increase must be limited to 1.5 degrees, and carbon neutrality reached by 2050, with a dramatic reduction in emissions by 2030.

Countries need to present updated climate action plans before COP26, in a year’s time, and all actors, from cities, to companies to NGOs, need to present their own transition plans.

Let’s make sure we abide by what science tells us to do

The fundamental task of governments and other public institutions, said Mr. Guterres, is to avoid putting up barriers to these plans. This is still happening today, he said, in the form of taxation, and fossil fuel subsidies that are actively hindering climate action.

A tax on carbon, declared the UN chief, is essential.

Recounting a discussion with a Prime Minister who feared losing elections if they taxed carbon, Mr. Guterres suggested taxing pollution rather than income, as a move that would save jobs, and might even win elections. 

Responding to another Prime Minister’s complaint that they couldn’t remove fossil fuel subsidies, because small businesses and citizens need cheap fuel, the UN chief told them to instead give the money directly to the poor.

Even if effective action is taken, climate change is already here, and is having a terrible impact on vulnerable people, warned Mr. Guterres. Financing must therefore be mobilized, not just for climate mitigation, but also for climate adaptation to support those who are suffering.

“Let’s make sure we abide by what science tells us to do”, he concluded. “a 1.5 degree limit, carbon neutrality by 2050, and a just transition”.