Global Leaders Meet for Climate Change Summit
Leaders from around the world have gathered for a crucial summit aimed at addressing the urgent issue of climate change. The two-day summit, which began yesterday, is being held virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The summit is being co-hosted by the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies and biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. It is widely seen as a crucial opportunity for the world’s major powers to come together and chart a path forward on climate action.
The stakes are high, with the world facing an existential crisis as temperatures continue to rise and extreme weather events become more frequent. The recent report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sounded the alarm that the world is running out of time to take meaningful action to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
At the opening of the summit, U.S. President Joe Biden declared that the world was at an “inflection point” in the fight against climate change, and called on leaders to take bold action. “The signs are unmistakable. The science is undeniable. But the cost of inaction keeps mounting,” he said.
China’s President Xi Jinping also addressed the summit, calling for “more concerted efforts” to tackle climate change and stressing the importance of “common but differentiated responsibilities” between developed and developing countries.
Other leaders at the summit include India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The summit is expected to focus on a range of issues, including emissions reduction targets, financing for climate action, and efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Many observers are hoping that the summit will produce concrete commitments from major powers to take meaningful action on climate change.
