The UN
Climate Action Summit | Spencer Platt/Getty Images
New York’s
failing climate summit
Gathering
of world leaders didn’t meet UN chief’s hopes of dramatically increased climate
action.
By KALINA
OROSCHAKOFF AND ZACK COLMAN 9/24/19, 6:00 AM CET Updated 9/25/19, 11:39 AM CET
There were
low expectations going into Monday’s U.N. climate summit. They ended up being
pretty accurate.
Despite
fiery words from U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and climate campaigner
Greta Thunberg, the pledges made in New York didn't amount to any kind of a
climate revolution.
More than
60 countries did commit to the target of becoming climate neutral by 2050 — one
of the goals set for the summit by Guterres, but the biggest polluters ended up
with a case of stage fright. Guterres had hopes of getting countries to commit
to phasing out new coal-fired power plant construction by 2020 and bolstering
national plans to cut emissions.
Small steps
The
European Union, which sees itself as a global climate leader, was unable to
make the mid-century climate neutrality pledge — four of its 28 member
countries blocked the target, fearful of the economic cost of a rapid cut in
emissions.
That didn’t
stop European Council President Donald Tusk from claiming that “Europe will win
the race to become the world's first climate-neutral continent.”
Even that
promise was more than other significant emitters were prepared to make.
More than
60 countries did commit to the target of becoming climate neutral by 2050 — one
of the goals set for the summit by Guterres, but the biggest polluters ended up
with a case of stage fright.
China, the
world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, made no new promises in New York,
but did take a jab at U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called climate
change a “hoax,” dismissed his own federal scientists’ findings that fossil
fuels effects on the planet are hitting every corner of the U.S. and signaled
he would exit the Paris climate accord.
“The
withdrawal of certain parties will not shake the international community,” said
Wang Yi, a special representative of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
French
President Emmanuel Macron also touched on U.S. climate policy, warning: “I
don’t want to see new trade negotiations with countries who are running counter
to the Paris Agreement.”
The United
States didn’t even address the summit. However, Trump did surprise those at the
conference by showing up for 14 minutes and listening to German Chancellor
Angela Merkel and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before leaving.
“Hopefully
our discussions today will be useful to you when you formulate climate policy,”
former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg joked from the stage after thanking
Trump for attending.
Trump
surprised those at the conference by showing up for 14 minutes
Modi
doubled down on India’s plans to expand renewable power, but made no promises
on curtailing coal consumption.
Japan’s
environment minister, speaking at a side event, said he would reduce his
nation’s coal combustion, which has risen steadily after a turn away from
nuclear power following the 2011 Fukushima disaster, but didn’t offer how. “I
just became the environment minister last week,” Shinjirō Koizumi said.
Russia said
it would ratify the Paris Agreement, but didn't spell out any emissions cuts.
Instead,
the international community will likely have to wait, possibly until next year,
for countries to punch up their climate pledges. By then, the U.S. will either
have a new Democratic president-elect, sending a signal about enhanced
involvement from the world’s top historical emitter. Or it will have another
four years of Trump, extending the vacuum created by the absence of the U.S.
from climate diplomacy.
If looks
could kill
While at
the summit, Trump strolled past Thunberg, who stared daggers at the
climate-skeptic U.S. leader.
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Captured by
@Reuters Andrew Hofstetter: @GretaThunberg watches Trump arrive at the #UNGA.
Thunberg condemned world leaders for failing to take strong measures to combat
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Embedded
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Thunberg’s
palpable anger at seeing Trump was also on full display when she lambasted
world leaders. "We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you
can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth," she
told them, adding: “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty
words.”
Guterres
was also unsparing in his criticism. “Nature is angry and we fool ourselves if
we think we can fool nature because nature always strikes back and around the
world nature is striking back with fury.”
He
chastised governments for giving “trillions in hard-earned taxpayers’ money to
the fossil fuel industry to boost hurricanes, spread tropical diseases, and
heighten conflict,” as well as plans for building “ever more coal plants that
are choking our future.”
The sense
of urgency from Guterres is shared by many scientists. Another alarming report
came out last week from the World Meteorological Organization, which found that
the previous five years were the hottest period on record, and that global
temperatures have risen by 1.1 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times. That
leaves just 0.4 degrees before hitting the lower limit of the targets agreed in
2015 in Paris.
Another
report on the state of the oceans is due to be delivered later this week.
"You
have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words" — Greta
Thunberg to U.N. leaders
That
drumbeat of grim science is sparking a global protest movement. Millions of
people took to the streets on Friday calling for more urgent climate action.
It’s also
become a political priority, as voters shift to parties with stronger climate
policies.
European
Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen has made her so-called European
Green Deal her No. 1 priority, including becoming climate neutral by 2050.
That's
leading to growing pressure on EU countries to ditch their attachment to fossil
fuels. On Friday, Germany promised a €54-billion program to go green.
In New
York, Macron criticized Poland for leading the resistance to the 2050 net-zero
goal.
"We
had the carbon neutrality agenda of 2050, we have four countries that blocked,
the reality is there is one country that blocked everything, it’s Poland. My
objective over the next few months is to convince the Polish to move," he
said.
What's next
NGOs
expressed disappointment at the lackluster results from New York.
"Most
of the major economies fell woefully short. Their lack of ambition stands in
sharp contrast with the growing demand for action around the world,” said
Andrew Steer, head of the World Resources Institute.
Von der
Leyen's European Green Deal is leading to growing pressure on EU countries to
ditch their attachment to fossil fuels.
The action
now shifts to Santiago, which hosts the COP25 climate talks this December. But
the same cautious dynamic that played out in New York is likely to be repeated
in Chile.
“We need
our young people in our countries to tell us to work faster," Macron said.
"We need the young people to help us to change things."
Ben
Lefebvre and Rym Momtaz contributed reporting.
CORRECTION:
This article was updated to correct the misattribution of a quote. The World
Resources Institute's head Andrew Steer spoke with POLITICO.
Authors:
Kalina
Oroschakoff and Zack Colman
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