Leaders of big polluters skip UN climate summit as “gates to hell” flung open

The leaders of the US and China - the world’s two largest polluters – have skipped the UN Climate Ambition Summit in New York.

The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has been trying to spotlight only nations and companies that have new plans to get on track for the Paris Agreement emissions goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

In fact, when Guterres announced the September 20 summit, he said "there will be no room for backsliders, green washers, blame shifters or repackaging of announcements from previous years".

A list of 32 speakers for the morning session did not feature anyone from China, the US, India, the UK, Russia, France or Japan. Also missing were officials from the United Arab Emirates, the controversial host of the COP28 climate summit in November.

Speeches were due to be heard from Brazil, Canada, the European Union, Pakistan, South Africa and Tuvalu, said the news service. Speaking slots were also given to Allianz, the state of California, the IMF, World Bank and the City of London.

US President Joe Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry attended the summit but was not scheduled to speak. Biden was in New York, regardless.

Guterres told the summit as it opened that the planet is headed for 2.8 degrees Celsius warming if there is no immediate action.

“Our focus here is on climate solutions and our task is urgent,” he said. “Humanity has opened the gates to Hell.

“Horrendous heat is having horrendous effects. Distraught farmers watching crops carried away by floods, sweltering temperatures spawning disease, and thousands fleeing in fear as historic fires rage.

“Climate action is dwarfed by the scale of the challenge. If nothing changes we are heading towards a 2.8 degree temperature rise – towards a dangerous and unstable world,” Guterres said on Wednesday, 20 September.

Guterres had called on “first movers and doers” to attend the summit to present updated net-zero targets; energy transition plans with no new coal, oil or gas; plans for phasing out fossil fuels; higher renewables targets; and pledges to the UN Green Climate Fund to help developing countries.

The first “movers and doers” were responsible for one-ninth of the world's annual carbon pollution, reported Associated Press.

In mid-September the US had issued a ‘global stocktake’ report on climate that said the world has two years to fix the climate and reach the Paris accord emission targets, and will likely not make it.

“The global stocktake is unfolding in a critical decade for climate action,” the report says. “Global emissions need to be nearly halved by 2030 for the world to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. In addition, transformational adaptation is also needed to help communities and ecosystems cope with the climate impacts that are already occurring and are expected to intensify.”