Less than a month before the UN climate conference COP31 opens in Antalya, Türkiye, representatives of three successive summit presidencies gathered to address a pressing question: How can the world restore trust in climate action when the consequences of a warming planet are already being felt?
The devastation in Nepal offered a stark reminder of what is at stake.
Opening the high-level meeting at UN Headquarters, General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman evoked the imagery of a wall of water barreling down a mountain valley, sweeping away people, homes and communities in its path.
“Scientists had long warned that such events were becoming a reality, yet none of us were prepared for the shocking footage”.
He reminded delegates that this year’s strengthening El Niño could be among the strongest since at least 1950, while the world is on its way to hotting up by 2.8°C above pre-industrial levels under current climate policies, far beyond the Paris Agreement’s goals.
“Behind these figures are families uprooted, children’s missing, school women walking farther for water, and communities confronting losses they cannot bear,” the assembly president added.
The task ahead for world leaders at the upcoming climate conference COP31 is to then turn commitments into action – and promises into trust, he said.
“COP31 must be more than another negotiating milestone. It must demonstrate that multilateralism delivers.”
by UN News – As disasters mount, next UN climate summit faces a test of trust
