New York [US], November 6: No single COP is a silver bullet that can stop climate change overnight. But every recent COP has made essential progress and COP31 in Antalya will, too, according to UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell.
''In the face of stiff geopolitical headwinds, nations must once again come together and drive real-world progress to protect more people and ensure they benefit from climate action.
This will be a COP that converts pledges and targets into concrete results, across both the negotiations and the Global Climate Action Agenda. It will bring together businesses, cities, states, communities, and civil society to turn words on paper into projects on the ground,'' said Stiell ahead of COP31 which Türkiye will host next week.
But, he added, the meeting takes place against the backdrop of an ongoing fossil-fuel cost crisis which has sent energy and transport costs spiraling. Worsening climate disasters are hurting every nation, wrecking lives and hurting human health, pushing up food prices and hunger. Now more than ever, the climate crisis and its causes are on every kitchen table, hitting every economy and population hard.
COP31, he continued, can help bolster practical solutions. Electrification and clean energy can cut household bills and lock in energy security.
''Building resilience can shelter communities and economies from worsening climate disasters - which is more vital than ever as a super El Niño turbocharges climate impacts.
Finance must reach people faster, with less red tape. Cutting super pollutants can make a big difference; methane is driving global heating at up to eighty times the rate of carbon dioxide.''
''The essential business of the Paris Agreement - national plans to deploy clean energy and increase resilience, and progress reports - keeps the wheels turning and our goals in sight,'' he concluded.
Source: Emirates News Agency
