Source The United Nations
Media www.rajawalisiber.com – Secretary-General António Guterres today (27 Sep) asked, “how much suffering the world – particularly the most vulnerable countries like Pakistan – will endure before emissions are cut.”
Speaking at an informal briefing marking one year since the devastating floods in Pakistan, the Secretary-General said, “I visited some of the affected areas that September. I will never forget the climate-related carnage I saw. Lives, homes, livelihoods, schools, hospitals – all obliterated.”
He said, “while much of the water has receded, the needs have not. More than eight million people in flood-affected areas lack access to clean water. Millions depend on humanitarian aid. And more than two million homes, 30,000 schools and 2,000 health facilities were damaged or destroyed – and reconstruction has just begun.”
Guterres said, “fossil fuel-based energy systems are a political decision. And those decisions must change. The science is clear; the shift to renewables is imperative.”
He said, “my Acceleration Agenda and Climate Solidarity Pact show the way forward. And COP28 must see concrete action on both.”
The Secretary-General called on donors and the international financial institutions to make good on the commitments that they made at the Conference that he co-hosted back in January.