World leaders attend climate change summit
World leaders, including President John Dramani Mahama, yesterday attended a summit at the UN headquarters in New York, targeted at getting member states of the United Nations to sign on to a new all-embracing agreement on climate change.
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Attended by more than 140 heads of state, it was the first time that the world made a bold attempt at tackling the frightening threats posed by climate change to nature.
Organised by the UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, the summit, which was one of the side events of the 69th UN General Assembly meeting, went through four thematic sessions.
These are climate, health and jobs; climate science; the economic case for climate action, and voices from the climate frontlines.
The contributions made by speakers at the summit were crucial steps, in the UN’s view "in placing the planet on a trajectory of less than two degrees Celsius rise and securing a meaningful universal climate agreement with the legal force in Paris in December 2015."
Appeal to governments
For the UN, the summit was also necessary in bringing to the fore, the political will to cut emissions and strengthen resilience in order to make a difference in the lives of people on the planet.
Opening the summit, Mr Moon said he expected governments globally to rise up against climate change. That did not mean the fight against climate change should be the sole responsibility of the political authorities, he added.
Mr Moon thus implored finance, business and civil society to also take up that initiative.
Effects of climate change
Climate change is intensifying, with drastic consequences in many parts of the world.
Mr Moon said the consequences on business, lives and other human activities were devastating.
Other speakers at the opening ceremony included Hollywood actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, who was recently appointed a UN representative on climate change, and Mr Al Gore, the Chairman of Generation Investment Management and the Climate Change Reality Project.