UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th March, 2020) The international community should immediately address climate change to prevent a global catastrophe, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said during a press briefing at the United Nations.
"We have no time to lose if we are to avert climate catastrophe. This is a pivotal year for how we address the climate emergency," Guterres said on Tuesday as the new World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) report on the state of the global climate in 2019 was released.
The report reaffirms the UN chief's call for urgent action, outlining increasing signs and impacts of climate change in the world. Among other significant indicators, the report highlights greenhouse gases, marine heatwaves, ocean warming, sea level, ice and glaciers as demonstrating the climate changes.
Guterres said that greenhouse gas concentrations today are at record levels in three million years, while the Earth's temperature was as much as 3 degrees hotter in 2019.
In light of the global climate changes listed in the report, Guterres called on the presidency of the 2020 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow - known as COP26 - as well as member states, the private sector, finance institutions and civil society to commit to meaningful climate action.
