The head of the United Nations warned Wednesday that the B次元官网网址済ates of hellB次元官网网址� are at hand as intensifies, and top international officials said the worldB次元官网网址檚 leaders still arenB次元官网网址檛 doing nearly enough to curb pollution of heat-trapping gases.

They pleaded with major emitting nations to do more.

Those nations remained silent. They werenB次元官网网址檛 allowed to speak because, organizers said, they had no new actions to take.

The only countries that touted their efforts B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渇irst movers and doers,B次元官网网址� the United Nations called them B次元官网网址� were responsible for just one-ninth of the worldB次元官网网址檚 annual carbon pollution.

B次元官网网址淗umanity has opened the gates of hell,B次元官网网址� U.N. Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres said Wednesday, opening a special climate ambition summit with yet another plea for action. B次元官网网址� 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.B次元官网网址�

Guterres convened the summit with the idea that only world leaders who came with new concrete actions would get to address their peers on the issue. But leaders of the countries that produce the most heat-trapping gases themselves chose not to even ask.

Heads of state from China, the United States, India, Russia, the United Kingdom and France all skipped the summit. The United States, which has put the most carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over the decades, sent its climate envoy, John Kerry, to the summit even though President Joe Biden was in town. Then the United Nations didnB次元官网网址檛 give Kerry a speaking spot. But California Gov. Gavin B次元官网网址om was given the space to speak and tout his stateB次元官网网址檚 efforts.

The 32 national leaders who did qualify represent only 11% of the worldB次元官网网址檚 carbon dioxide pollution. China and the United States both emit more carbon dioxide than those 32 countries combined. The European CommissionB次元官网网址檚 president was also permitted to speak.

B次元官网网址淲e are in the final stages of what actions are needed to preserve this planet and regrettably IB次元官网网址檓 not sure everybody is getting it,B次元官网网址� said Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who called on debt pauses and cancellations and changes in multinational development banks and the insurance industry.

Mottley, a leader of poorer nations struck frequently by extreme weather, lamented that everybody was paying attention to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who was speaking at the same time While she stands in support of Ukraine, she said, climate change is B次元官网网址渁 greater threat because more lives are at stake globally than they are in Ukraine.B次元官网网址�

EXTRA EFFORTS CALLED FOR

Even though the world in 2015 adopted (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times, instead Earth is on a path to warming 2.8 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit) B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渁 dangerous and unstable world,B次元官网网址� Guterres warned. The world has already warmed at least 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since the middle of the 19th century.

B次元官网网址淏ut the future is not fixed. It is for leaders like you to write it,B次元官网网址� Guterres said.

Guterres called on B次元官网网址渕ajor emitters B次元官网网址� who have benefitted most from fossil fuels B次元官网网址� to make extra efforts to cut emissions, and on wealthy countries to support emerging economies to do so.B次元官网网址� They were silent.

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 no doubt that the absence of so many leaders from the worldB次元官网网址檚 biggest economies and emitters will clearly have an impact on the outcomes of the summit and diminish the contribution that many of us had hoped it could make,B次元官网网址� said longtime climate negotiations analyst Alden Meyer of the European think-tank 3EG.

On the same day Guterres called for more and faster cuts in heat-trapping emissions and in spending helping poor countries shift to renewable energy and adapt to a warmer world, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appeared poised to B次元官网网址� and go in the opposite direction.

In contrast, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen crowed about how their members pledged to reduce carbon pollution 55% by 2030 and is doing even better than that.

Guterres, a new special U.N. report on the lack of progress in the fight against climate change, activists and some scientists have called for a phase-out of fossil fuels coal, oil and natural gas. But international negotiations keep away from adopting such a big move.

SMALLER NATIONS CANB次元官网网址橳 GO IT ALONE

On Wednesday, Guterres once again pushed for an end to fossil fuel subsidies, something he said B次元官网网址渞eached an incredible $7 trillion in 2022.B次元官网网址� The secretary-general criticized B次元官网网址渢he naked greed of entrenched interests raking in billions from fossil fuels.B次元官网网址�

He called on wealthy nations to fulfill their $100 billion pledges to help poorer countries deal with climate change. The United States is one of the countries that hasnB次元官网网址檛 done so. The U.N. chief also pushed for countries to spend even more than theyB次元官网网址檝e promised and put in money to a B次元官网网址渓oss and damageB次元官网网址� fund agreed upon last year that are sort of payments to help nations harmed by extreme weather from global warming.

Africa B次元官网网址渃an leapfrog into a fully green industrial paradigm,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Kenyan President William Ruto said. B次元官网网址淵et we cannot and must not do this on our own.B次元官网网址�

To get there, Africa needs the world to change its debt and credit systems, an extra $500 billion in financial help and a global tax, Ruto said. B次元官网网址淲hat we need is fairness B次元官网网址� a fair financial system.B次元官网网址�

A NEW HOPE

Sultan Al Jaber, who will run the upcoming climate negotiations in Dubai, put a giant number on the problem: 22 billion metric tons. ThatB次元官网网址檚 how much carbon dioxide emissions the world has to cut in the next seven years to reach the worldB次元官网网址檚 climate-fighting goal. Then he came up with a bigger number: It will cost the globe between $4 trillion and $5 trillion a year, he said.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale of this challenge,B次元官网网址� Al Jaber told the summit. B次元官网网址淟etB次元官网网址檚 go after the gigatons, not each other.B次元官网网址�

Experts and United Nations reports say the world needs to reduce emissions by 43% in the next seven years to reach the goal set by the 2015 Paris agreement.

B次元官网网址淭his started as the climate ambition summit, and I believe it ends as the climate hope summit,B次元官网网址� Guterres said, wrapping up the day-long meetings.

The promises and actions dischssed Wednesday keep alive the worldB次元官网网址檚 chances of limiting warming to the international goal, Guterres said.

B次元官网网址淲e are not yet there,B次元官网网址� he said. But there are cities, regions and companies that are leading the way. B次元官网网址淚f these first movers and first doers can do it, everybody can do it.B次元官网网址�

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