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World leaders to present carbon reduction plans at U.N. summit

By Brooks Hays
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend the U.N. Climate Action Summit Monday in New York City. Photo by Ali Haider/EPA-EFE
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend the U.N. Climate Action Summit Monday in New York City. Photo by Ali Haider/EPA-EFE

Sept. 20 (UPI) -- World leaders are making their way to New York City ahead of Monday's Climate Action Summit at United Nations headquarters.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has called on leaders to arrive with detailed plans for emissions reductions. The meeting will follow a global protest Friday urging governments to take action against climate change, and a Youth Action Summit on Saturday.

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At Monday's summit, Guterres hopes to hold nations and their leaders accountable to the emissions reductions commitments made as part of the 2015 Paris agreement. Several reports have suggested the promises made in Paris are not sufficient to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial average.

According to researchers with the United Nations, more drastic efforts to de-carbonize the global economy are needed to prevent catastrophic effects of climate change.

Guterres has called on a new round of international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent by 2030, and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

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The last four years have been the hottest on record, and global carbon emissions continue to rise every year.

"I want to hear about how we are going to stop the increase in emissions by 2020, and dramatically reduce emissions to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century," Guterres said in a news release.

Leaders attending the summit are expected to discuss the finer details of emissions reductions plans, including how to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Meetings will also be held to discuss how to build sustainable and resilient infrastructures to protect cities from the negative effects of climate change.

The United Nations recently reported that significant changes in global diets, agriculture and land-use will be necessary to successfully curb global warming. Attendees at Monday's summit are expected to discuss strategies for sustainable agriculture.

With record-setting forest fires burning in Brazil and the Arctic and dramatic losses of coral across the globe, Monday's summit will also feature discussions on the management of forests and oceans.

Ahead of Monday's gathering, Guterres encouraged leaders to arrive prepared to talk details.

"Bring plans, not speeches," he said.

"I can distill the significance of all these discussions into two words: ambition and action," Guterres said. "I see the high-level week as an excellent opportunity to showcase the United Nations as a center for solutions and a driver for meaningful, positive change in people's lives."

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Monday's meeting will be preceded by a Youth Action Summit on Saturday, which will provide a platform to young activists, innovators and entrepreneurs to express their concerns about global warming.

On Friday, millions of students plan to forgo school and take to the streets to demand action on climate change as part of a global climate strike. They will be joined by scientists, teachers, climate activists and many others. Hundreds of protests are planned worldwide.

With politicians and governments slow to act on climate change, students and young activists have been demanding urgency from their representatives.

"We are calling on everyone to join us, we need a truly diverse and multi-generational movement, made of people from all ages and backgrounds, not just the youth," Jerome Foster II, a youth climate activist, said last week during a press conference. "We need adults to stand up and call for action and to support young people and do things that young people can't do. We should be fighting for our future."

Many of the youth activists attending Saturday's summit will also be involved in Monday's meetings.

At least 60 heads of state are expected to stand at the podium and discuss their plans for emissions reductions. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are all expected to speak.

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U.S. President Donald Trump will not participate, and neither Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison nor Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will attend. Australia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia were barred from speaking as a result of their continued support for coal power plants and their refusal to commit to more ambitious emissions reduction efforts.

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