New Delhi: United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that the world is moving in the wrong direction and urged nations to take immediate action to fight climate change as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Covid-19 is a wake-up call, and we are sleeping,” Guterres was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
According to an AFP report, Guterres further expressed regret to the countries producing the Kovid-19 vaccine because they have not been able to speed up their manufacturing process to achieve the goal of immunizing 70% of the world’s population by the first half of 2022. Huh.
“The pandemic has demonstrated our collective failure to come together and make joint decisions for the common good, even in the face of an urgent, life-threatening global emergency,” Guterres said.
The UN chief rejected calls to postpone the UN climate summit, called COP26, which is scheduled to be held in Scotland in November 2021. Given the vaccine disparity, the COVID-19 pandemic and logistics issues, climate activists have called for the summit to be delayed.
The UN chief refused to postpone the summit beyond the due date, stressing the urgency of resolving the issue. He further called on the US and China to do more to fight climate change.
Guterres continued, “We need a stronger US involvement in funding for development, development issues related to climate, mitigation, adaptation, and we need an additional effort from China with regards to emissions.” “
(with inputs from AFP)
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