United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres launched a two-day “Summit for the Future” focusing on climate issues as part of the UN General Assembly. Amid the summit, some leaders expressed concerns over growing distrust among nations exacerbated by climate-induced disasters. During the summit, state leaders spoke after adopting the “Charter for the Future,” which aims to ensure and enhance cooperation among countries. Many called for immediate access to increased climate financing, as reported by the Swiss news outlet “Swiss Info.”
In his address, Guterres highlighted the swift pace of international challenges outstripping our ability to solve them, noting that crises are interacting and feeding off each other. For example, the misuse of digital technologies for spreading misinformation about climate change deepens mistrust and fuels polarization. Meanwhile, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley echoed Guterres’ warning, urging a “reset” in how global institutions are managed to better respond to crises and serve the most needy.
Mottley emphasized that the crisis in our governance institutions and the lack of trust between governors and the governed will continue to enhance social alienation globally while we need to find as many people as possible to shape a new world. The UN Climate Summit continues today with speeches from China, India, and the United States.
U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to deliver a speech at an event also attended by actress and climate activist Jane Fonda and World Bank President Ajay Banga, among others. Another event hosted by the Clinton Foundation will feature speeches by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and actor and water activist Matt Damon.
The climate group coordinating Climate Week has counted about 900 climate-related events planned across the city this week, hosted by multinational corporations, international non-profit organizations, governments, and activists. Climate summits and events like Climate Week, held alongside the UN General Assembly, have taken on an increasingly urgent tone in recent years as rising temperatures increasingly fuel severe disasters like heatwaves and storms.
Some observers of the climate negotiations expressed regret that the global agreement adopted by the General Assembly on Sunday did not go beyond last year’s COP28 summit in Dubai in emphasizing the commitment to transition away from fossil fuel use. Alden Meyer, a senior fellow at the climate research organization E3G, mentioned that countries are showing a “collective amnesia” about the need to deal with polluting fuels.
Leaders also wrestled with a more pressing challenge on the climate agenda. With only two months left until the COP29 UN Climate Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, there is little time to agree on a new global funding goal to replace the annual $100 billion pledge ending in 2025. Some UN agencies estimate annual financing needs in the trillions, prompting leaders to look beyond their budgets for ways to boost climate funds.
This year, the World Bank and other multilateral development banks are undergoing reforms that may allow them to provide more funding or take on more climate-related risks. As part of an initiative led by Barbados, France, and Kenya, countries are also discussing the imposition of new global taxes to help fund climate finance, such as a financial transaction tax or a shipping tax.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland noted that some of the world’s poorest countries are now facing climate-induced disasters alongside an increasing debt burden. Scotland stressed the need for more effort to understand the fundamental injustice of the debt crisis most of our developing countries are experiencing. Development banks and the World Bank must step in to address this reality.
