UN Climate Ambition Summit 2020

On December 12, 2020, the UN, United Kingdom, and France co-hosted the Climate Ambition Summit 2020, in partnership with Chile and Italy. This was a monumental step on the road to the UK-hosted COP26 next November in Glasgow. It was a virtual event held to mark the completion of five years since the signing of the Paris Agreement.

The objective was to bring leaders together who are ready to make new commitments to tackle climate change and deliver on the Paris Agreement. Countries were expected to set out new and ambitious commitments under the three pillars of the Paris Agreement: mitigation, adaptation and finance commitments. There was to be no space for general statements.

Address by the UN Secretary-General

In his opening remarks the UN Secretary-General António Guterres made the following important points:

• Five years after Paris, we are still not going in the right direction. Paris promised to limit temperature rise to as close to 1.5 degrees as possible. But the commitments made in Paris were far from enough to get there. And even those commitments are not being met.
• Carbon dioxide levels are at record highs. Today, we are 1.2 degrees hotter than before the industrial revolution. If we don’t change course, we may be headed for a catastrophic temperature rise of more than 3 degrees this century.

I call on all leaders worldwide to declare a State of Climate Emergency in their countries until carbon neutrality is reached. Some 38 countries have already done so, recognizing the urgency and the stakes. I urge all others to follow.

• We are not doomed to fail. The recovery from COVID-19 presents an opportunity to set our economies and societies on a green path in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
• The trillions of dollars needed for COVID recovery is money that we are borrowing from future generations. We cannot use these resources to lock in policies that burden future generations with a mountain of debt on a broken planet.

The central objective of the UN for 2021 is to build a truly Global Coalition for Carbon Neutrality by the middle of the century. To make it a reality, we need meaningful cuts now to reduce global emissions by 45% by 2030 compared with 2010 levels. This must be fully reflected in the revised and strengthened Nationally Determined Contributions that the Paris signatories are obliged to submit well before COP26 next year in Glasgow.

It is time to:

• put a price on carbon;
• phase out fossil fuel finance and end fossil fuel subsidies;
• stop building new coal power plants;
• shift the tax burden from income to carbon, from taxpayers to polluters; 
• make climate-related financial risk disclosures mandatory; and
• integrate the goal of carbon neutrality into all economic and fiscal policies and decisions.

This is a moment of truth.  But it is also a moment of hope.

• More and more countries have committed to net zero emissions.
• The business community is getting on board the sustainability train.
• We see cities striving to become greener and more livable.
• We see young people taking on responsibility – and demanding it of others.
• Mindsets are shifting. Climate action is the barometer of leadership in today’s world. It is what people and planet need at this time. 

We have the blueprint: the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change. But we all need to pass a credibility test: let’s make the promise of a net zero world a reality now. On the path to COP26, I urge everyone to show ambition, stop the assault on our planet -- and do what we need to guarantee the future of our children and grandchildren.

Address by the Indian Prime Minister

Prime Minister Modi too addressed the Summit. At the Paris Meeting in 2015, India had announced its Nationally Determined Contribution of reducing emissions intensity of GDP by 33-35% by 2030 along with its renewable energy and forest cover targets. At the Climate Ambition Summit, however, Mr. Modi refrained from announcing enhanced ambitions or targets. 

The important points made by Mr. Modi were:

• India was not only on track to fulfilling its climate commitments but would go further.
• India had reduced its emissions intensity by 21% since 2005. 
• Installed solar capacity had grown to 36 GW in 2020. 
• The country’s renewable energy capacity was the fourth largest in the world and would reach 175 GW before 2022.
• We have an even more ambitious target, 450GW of energy capacity by 2030. 
• We have also succeeded in increasing forest cover.
• India had pioneered the International Solar Alliance as well as the Coalition for Disaster Relief.

Mr. Modi added, “In 2047, India will celebrate 100 years as an independent modern nation. Centennial India will not only meet its own targets but also exceed expectations.”