World must prevent runaway climate change by 2020: UN chief

Kabir Humayun: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world is facing “a direct existential threat” and must rapidly shift from dependence on fossil fuels by 2020 to prevent “runaway climate change.”
The UN chief called the crisis urgent and decried the lack of global leadership to address global warming, Reports AP.
“Climate change is moving faster than we are,” Guterres said Monday. “We need to put the brake on deadly greenhouse gas emissions and drive climate action.”
He said people everywhere are experiencing record-breaking temperatures — and extreme heatwaves, wildfires, storms and floods “are leaving a trail of death and devastation.”
When some 190 nations signed the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change they agreed to limit the global temperature increase by 2100 to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees.
“These targets were the bare minimum to avoid the worst impacts of climate change,” Guterres said. “But scientists tell us that we are far off track.”
“According to a UN study, the commitments made so far by parties to the Paris agreement represent just one-third of what is needed,” the secretary-general said.
Guterres said the mountain that needs to be climbed is very high — but not insurmountable.
“We need to rapidly shift away from our dependence on fossil fuels,” he said. “We need to replace them with clean energy from water, wind and sun. We must halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and change the way we farm.”
“Nothing less than our future and the fate of humankind depends on how we rise to the climate challenge,” Guterres said. “Keeping our planet’s warming to well below 2 degrees (Celsius) is essential for global prosperity, people’s well-being and the security of nations.”
He cited the rising use of renewable energy, saying “today, it is competitive with — and even cheaper — than coal and oil, especially if one factors in the cost of pollution.” And he singled out innovative programs in China, Sweden, Morocco, Scotland and Thailand.