United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday said that India is the third worst affected country by natural disasters in the world since 1995. The UN chief made the statement as he appealed to all the world leaders gathered at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) session to implement the Paris climate deal with greater aspiration.
Guterres, speaking at the UNGA session, reiterated that climate change is very real and extreme weather events caused by global warming like Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria are becoming the "new normal of a warming world," PTI reported.
The Paris Climate Agreement, which was signed in 2015, involves nearly 200 countries with a goal to limit global warming well below two degrees Celcius above pre-industrial levels. The landmark agreement calls on countries to acknowledge climate change and combat it with preventive measures and targeted goals.
"Climate change puts our hopes in jeopardy. Last year was the hottest ever. The past decade has been the hottest on record. The average global temperature keeps climbing, glaciers are receding and permafrost is declining. Millions of people and trillions of assets are at risk from rising seas and other climate disruptions," Guterres said.
The UN chief added that the number of natural disasters in the world has quadrupled since 1970. He said that the US, China, India, the Philippines and Indonesia have experienced the most number of disasters since 1995. The number of events amounts to 1,600 or once in every five days.
"I stand in solidarity with the people of the Caribbean and the United States who have just suffered through Hurricane Irma, the longest-lasting Category 5 storm ever recorded. And Maria is already on its way," Guterres said.
"We should not link any single weather event to climate change. But scientists are clear that such extreme weather is precisely what their models predict will be the new normal of a warming world," he said.
"We have had to update our language to describe what is happening: we now talk of mega-hurricanes, superstorms and rain bombs. It is time to get off the path of suicidal emissions. We know enough today to act. The science is unassailable," he added.
The UN chief appealed the governments to set bold targets to reach their goals under the Paris climate agreement.
"I commend those cities that are setting bold targets. I welcome the initiatives of the thousands of private enterprises - including major oil and gas companies - that are betting on a clean, green future. Energy markets tell us that green business is good business," Guterres said.
"The falling cost of renewables is one of the most encouraging stories on the planet today. So is the growing evidence that economies can grow as emissions go down," he added.
