UN / STATE GLOBAL CLIMATE

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28-Mar-2019 00:02:56
Speaking to reporters today, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that it is important to tackle climate change with “much greater ambition.” He called on leaders attending the climate Summit in September to come with a plan instead of a speech. UNIFEED

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STORY: UN / STATE GLOBAL CLIMATE
TRT: 2:56
SOURCE: UNIFEED
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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 28 MARCH 2019, NEW YORK CITY

SHOTLIST:

RECENT – NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters

28 MARCH 2019, NEW YORK CITY

2.Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“It is important that we tackle climate change with much greater ambition. And I am telling leaders: ‘Don’t come with a speech; come with a plan.’ I am calling on them to come to the summit with concrete, realistic plans to put us on a sustainable path, once and for all.”
4.Wide shot, press briefing room
5.SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We are very close to the moment in which it will no longer be possible to come to the end of the century with only 1.5 degrees. We have very few years to reverse these trends, because the concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere will not disappear. And so, we are getting close to the moment in which, irreversibly, will be much worse than the scenario that was described by the IPCC.”
6. Wide shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“A growing number of governments, cities and businesses, it is true, are already understand that climate solutions can strengthen our economies, improve air quality and public health and protect our environment. We expect initiatives in a diversity of sectors, such as energy, sustainable agriculture, forests, oceans and resilience to climate impacts. And I hope it will also highlight the importance of gender diversity in all decision-making. And it will emphasize the importance of a just transition – where no one is left disadvantaged by necessary climate action.”
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General, World Meteorological Organization (WMO):
“One of the key issues here is the lifetime of carbon dioxide is very long, so the problem doesn’t disappear if it would stop emitting carbon to the atmosphere 50 years from now. So we have to find a solution in the coming decade. And if we don’t do so then we will live in consequences and it will take thousands of years to return back to the pre-industrial level of carbon dioxide.”
9. Wide shot, press briefing
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General, World Meteorological Organization (WMO):
“And if you go to this higher level of carbon dioxide, you would see a major change of the global rainfall patterns. So we would have difficulty in feeding the growing global population, that’s to me is the main concern related to climate change. And the sea levels rise will continue the pace of one metre per century, and we have a potential to see sea levels rise up to tenth of metres if it melt the glacier of Greenland and the Arctic.”
11. Wide shot, press briefing room

STORYLINE:

Speaking to reporters today (28 Mar), UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that it is important to tackle climate change with “much greater ambition.” He called on leaders attending the climate Summit in September to come with a plan instead of a speech.

At a Press Conference for the launch of WMO Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2018, the UN Chief listed three things stand out from the WMO statement: record highs in land and ocean temperatures, sea levels and greenhouse gas concentrations; the dramatic impact of extreme weather conditions; the impact on public health is escalating.

He noted that Cyclone Idai in southern Africa is a particularly stark recent example, as it was demonstrated.

On the upcoming climate Summit in September, the UN chief called on leader to come with concrete, realistic plans to put us on a sustainable path, once and for all.”

He noted that it means enhancing Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement by 2020 and showing how we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent over the next decade and get to net zero emissions globally by 2050.

Gutterres said,”we are very close to the moment in which it will no longer be possible to come to the end of the century with only 1.5 degrees,” adding that “we have very few years to reverse these trends, because the concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere will not disappear. And so, we are getting close to the moment in which, irreversibly, will be much worse than the scenario that was described by the IPCC.”

He reiterated that he wantsthe summit to demonstrate the benefits of climate action and how everyone can benefit.

He said “a growing number of governments, cities and businesses, it is true, are already understand that climate solutions can strengthen our economies, improve air quality and public health and protect our environment. We expect initiatives in a diversity of sectors, such as energy, sustainable agriculture, forests, oceans and resilience to climate impacts. And I hope it will also highlight the importance of gender diversity in all decision-making. And it will emphasize the importance of a just transition – where no one is left disadvantaged by necessary climate action.”

Asked to picture a future if the global community are not compacting climate change, WMO’s Secretary-General Petteri Taalas told reporters, “one of the key issues here is the lifetime of carbon dioxide is very long, so the problem doesn’t disappear if it would stop emitting carbon to the atmosphere 50 years from now. So we have to find a solution in the coming decade. And if we don’t do so then we will live in consequences and it will take thousands of years to return back to the pre-industrial level of carbon dioxide.”

He added, “and if you go to this higher level of carbon dioxide, you would see a major change of the global rainfall patterns. So we would have difficulty in feeding the growing global population, that’s to me is the main concern related to climate change. And the sea levels rise will continue the pace of one metre per century, and we have a potential to see sea levels rise up to tenth of metres if it melt the glacier of Greenland and the Arctic.”

The WMO Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2018, its 25th anniversary edition, highlights record sea level rise, as well as exceptionally high land and ocean temperatures over the past four years. This warming trend has lasted since the start of this century and is expected to continue.

These key climate change indicators are becoming more pronounced. Carbon dioxide levels, which were at 357.0 parts per million when the statement was first published in 1994, keep rising – to 405.5 parts per million in 2017. For 2018 and 2019, greenhouse gas concentrations are expected to increase further.

The WMO climate statement includes input from national meteorological and hydrological services, an extensive community of scientific experts, and United Nations agencies. It details climate related risks and impacts on human health and welfare, migration and displacement, food security, the environment and ocean and land-based ecosystems. It also catalogues extreme weather around the world.

The Climate Action Summit will take place in New York on 23 September, 2019.
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