UN Climate Change Conference – COP24

During the UN COP24 Climate Change Conference grand opening on Monday, Secretary-General António Guterres told over 150 world leaders gathered for climate action that “we are in deep trouble” and asked decision-makers to focus on four key things: stepping up climate action, according to a solid plan, with more funding, as a smart investment in the future of the planet.

COP24,  the two-week 24th conference of the parties of the United Nations Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC), started on Sunday in Katowice, Poland, with a special focus on carbon neutrality and gender equality. 

During press briefings at the beginning of the G20 meeting of industrialized nations in Buenos Aires, UN Secretary António Guterres described the event as an essential forum, citing a lack of confidence and high level of confrontation within the international community.

The world is heading in the wrong direction to slow climate change after another year of near-record temperatures, the head of the UN’s weather agency said on Thursday.

On the eve of the G20 international forum in Argentina, and ahead of next week’s COP24 climate conference in Katowice, Poland, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for global leadership to be stepped up, “at a time of declining global trust.”

As global temperatures continue to rise, climate action is lagging and the window of opportunity is closing. On Sunday, the United Nations will kick off critical negotiations on how to address the problem collectively and urgently, during a two-week climate change conference in Katowice, Poland, known as “COP24”.

A new report released on Tuesday by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) shows that global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions rose again during 2017 after a three year hiatus, highlighting the imperative for countries to deliver on the historic Paris Agreement to keep global warming to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

To bring the voice of the people to the upcoming Climate Change Conference in Poland (known by the shorthand 'COP 24', from 2 to 14 December), the United Nations has launched  the ‘People’s Seat’ initiative, calling millions of change advocates worldwide to submit messages for an address that will be delivered to leaders attending the conference, by renowned naturalist Sir David Attenborough.

Levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached another new record high, according to a report issued on Thursday by the United Nations weather agency, which reveals that there is no sign of reversal of this trend, responsible for climate change, sea level rise, ocean acidification and extreme weather.