PRESS BRIEFING BY MONICA VILLELA GRAYLEY, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ABDULLA SHAHID

General Assembly President, Abdulla Shahid, calls for global action to solve climate change

Mr. Abdulla Shahid is presiding over the High-Level Meeting on Delivering Climate Action for People, Planet and Prosperity at the General Assembly Hall.

The event will hear from more than 70 Heads of State, Heads of Government and Ministers on actions to solve the climate emergency.

The meeting started with a video by young climate activists from the Democratic Republic of the Congo on their view of the impact of the climate crisis for their generation and for future generations.

The UN Secretary-General, the President of ECOSOC, the Co-Chair of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also delivered remarks as well as the Presidents of Palau, Tanzania Maldives and the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

In his speech to the plenary, at the Opening Segment, President Abdulla Shahid said that it was important to hear “blunt realities” and to produce “an honest assessment of the challenges before us, and on an understanding that we have the combined capacity to confront those challenges, if we work together.”

The PGA mentioned that “there are reasons to be hopeful with the renewables now significantly undercutting fossil fuels as the world’s cheapest source of energy” but the goal of $100 billion per year in climate financing has not been met as of yet.

Based on latest assessments, developed nations are set to be three years late in delivering this pledge.

Mr. Shahid believes that the world has the science, the capacity, and the resources to end the climate crisis.

For the PGA, his High-Level Event on Climate action will not solve climate change because only action will deliver that.

Mr. Shahid also spoke about the need for a whole-of-society approach to tackling climate change, one that empowers young people, women, and all other stakeholders. The entire speech is already on our website: https://bit.ly/3CiPpau

On our YouTube channel https://bit.ly/3nN91h1 you can get the videos of the PGA and other participants.

For the full programme: https://bit.ly/3mhrOkR

This afternoon, the GA will hear representatives from the private sector, a group on children’s environmental rights and youth engagement.

The High-Level Meeting Delivering Climate Action for People, Planet and Prosperity will be concluded at 9.30 pm. here in New York with remarks by the PGA.

 

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