Visiting Fiji for the first time as Secretary-General, António Guterres outlined two “fundamental challenges” facing leaders attending the Pacific Islands Forum on Thursday, namely climate change and the world’s rising ocean, which threatens to submerge low-lying nations.

“The Pacific region is on the frontline of climate change”, he said. “That means you are also our important allies in the fight against it”.

The UN chief said that he was there “to see the region’s climate pressures firsthand, and to learn about the work being undertaken by communities here in Fiji and elsewhere to bolster resilience”.

Noting that the last four years were the hottest on record, Mr. Guterres highlighted recent ice losses in Greenland and Antarctica, saying that “sea levels will rise a full meter by 2100”.

In the Pacific specifically, he said that sea-levels are set to rise in some countries four times above the global average, posing “an existential threat to some island States”.

Providing “ample evidence of the region’s vulnerability” the UN chief cited recent damage caused by Tropical Cyclones Gita, Josie and Keni as well as by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes and other extreme weather events in the region.

“Climate change will further worsen the risks”, he spelled out, noting that the salinization of water and crops is endangering food security and escalating the impact on public health.

He maintained that climate change also brings “clear dangers” for international peace and security, pointing to the 2018 Boe Declaration, which reaffirms climate change as the single greatest threat to the wellbeing of the Pacific.

Mr. Guterres said that he recently appointed a task force to coordinate UN initiatives to address these challenges.

“Military strategists see clearly the possibility of climate impacts increasing tensions over resources and mass movements of people”, he continued. “As coastal areas or degraded inland areas become uninhabitable, people will seek safety and better lives elsewhere”.

Recalling that more than 24 million people in 118 countries and territories were displaced by natural disasters in 2016, he told Pacific leaders their islands and communities “are in the forefront of global climate negotiations”.

He vowed the UN’s strong commitment “to supporting your response to climate change and reversing the negative trends that have put your cultures and very existence at risk”.

Climate change also threatens the well-being of the world’s ocean and seas, which are critical to the economies and traditions of the Pacific.

“Oceans are warming and becoming more acidic, causing coral bleaching and reducing biodiversity” the UN chief told the Forum, stating that global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius would cause “severe damage to tropical reefs”.

Moreover, if warming reached two degrees Celsius or more, “it would be catastrophic for marine life and humans alike” he said. “Food security would decline. Economic growth would suffer”.

But seas and marine life are also under attack from other directions. Mr. Guterres painted a picture of overfishing; underwater deserts in effect, with no oxygen; seas filled with poison and trash, and species becoming extinct within decades.

“Every year, more than eight million tonnes of harmful plastic waste end up in the ocean” he said. “According to one recent study, plastic could outweigh fish in our seas by 2050”.

While many countries are finally rejecting single-use plastic, the UN chief underscored that “we must do even more” to address the unsustainable levels of stress on marine and coastal ecosystems.

He commended Pacific countries for ensuring the adoption of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development, saying that his Special Envoy for the Ocean, Fiji’s Peter Thomson, is promoting the SDGs and the outcomes of the UN Ocean Conference.

“To address the intertwined challenges of climate change and ocean health, we need smart and far-reaching steps” that require action aligned with the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda, which makes full use of tools, such as the Convention on the Law of the Sea, according to the UN chief.

“We have the blueprints, frameworks and plans” he stated. “What we need is urgency, will and ambition”.

Mr. Guterres spoke of his Climate Action Summit in September at UN Headquarters, as an opportunity “to scale up” pledges to halt emission increases 2020, and “dramatically reduce” them to net-zero emissions by mid-century.

He also stressed the importance of gender diversity in decision making as climate change has impacts on women, citing as an example that food salinization affects the health of pregnant women and newborns.

Come September, Mr. Guterres said that sustainable development will be centre-stage as SDG progress will be reviewed and finance mobilization discussed.

He lauded Pacific countries’ commitment to promote their vision of a “Blue Continent” and maintained that their voices “remain crucial in global negotiations”.

“The Pacific has a unique moral authority to speak out” he said. “It is time for the world to listen”. </s> SUVA: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday (May 15) the Pacific possesses "a unique moral authority" to demand global action on climate change because its people are bearing the brunt of the problem.

Visiting Fiji as part of a South Pacific tour to highlight the dangers of global warming, Guterres said the region was on the front line of climate change.

"Here in the Pacific, sea-level rise in some countries is four times greater than the global average and is an existential threat to some island states," he said.

He said this was despite the fact that the Pacific islands contributed little to global warming and had been among the first nations to minimise their greenhouse gas emissions.

"Your experiences underscore the urgency of the threat," he said. "The Pacific has a unique moral authority to speak out - it is time for the world to listen."

Guterres' visit - which also includes New Zealand, Tuvalu and Vanuatu - will see the UN chief meet locals whose lives have been upended by cyclones, flooding and other extreme weather events linked to climate change.

It comes ahead of the Climate Action Summit in September in New York, billed as a last chance to prevent irreversible climate change.

Members of the Pacific Islands Forum regional grouping commended Guterres for travelling to see "the everyday reality of climate change".

They sent a strong message to the New York conference, warning "we are facing an unprecedented global catastrophe for our blue planet".

"Platitudes and repackaged commitments cannot be the substance of our deliberations," they said in a statement.

"We need transformational change at scale, and courageous leaders prepared to deliver it."

Guterres will address the Fiji parliament on Thursday. </s> Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "I am delighted to congratulate Mr. António Guterres on his appointment today by the United Nations General Assembly to serve as the next United Nations Secretary-General.

"The world faces an unprecedented number of challenges – from ending the conflict in Syria, to addressing the worst global displacement crisis since the Second World War, to implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals. As I witnessed firsthand during Mr. Guterres’ tenure as United Nations High Commission for Refugees, he possesses the experience, vision, and moral authority to tackle these challenges head on. The United Nations needs a steadfast leader at its helm, and Mr. Guterres has proven time and again that he can fill that role.

"I also would like to applaud the other candidates who competed in the Secretary-General race, who spent many months presenting their ideas for improving the United Nations and making the world a better place. The United States is pleased that this Secretary-General selection process was more transparent and that it included a diverse pool of candidates, including an unprecedented number of women.

"I offer my thanks to outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who has provided tireless, thoughtful leadership during a period of proliferating global challenges. I salute his dedication to the United Nations and his many accomplishments as its Secretary-General." </s> Governments around the world must introduce carbon taxes, halt plans for new coal plants and accelerate the closure of existing ones if damage to the Pacific from climate change is to be limited, the UN secretary general has told Pacific leaders on his first visit to the region.

Antonio Guterres met leaders of Pacific countries in Fiji, on a trip that will also see him visit Vanuatu, considered one of the countries most vulnerable to natural disasters due to climate change, and Tuvalu, which is at risk of sinking under rising waters.

Speaking after meetings in Suva on Wednesday, Guterres acknowledged the region was “on the frontline of climate change” and its people were “important allies in the fight against it”.

“Here in the Pacific, sea-level rise in some countries is four times greater than the global average and is an existential threat to some island states,” he said.

“My messages to governments around the world from the Pacific are clear: first, shift taxes from salaries to carbon. Tax pollution, not people. Second, stop subsidising fossil fuels. Taxpayer money should not be used to boost hurricanes, spread drought and heatwaves, melt glaciers, and bleach corals. Third, stop building new coal plants by 2020.”

His comments came in the closing days of the Australian election campaign, where climate action is a key issue.

Leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum told Guterres they were “running out of time” and asked him to share a message of urgency with the world, saying they were facing “an unprecedented global catastrophe”.

“The blue Pacific – our great ocean continent, our thousands of islands, our strong and resilient people – is running out of time,” said forum leaders in a statement.

“All countries, with no caveats, must agree to take decisive and transformative action to reduce global emissions ... If we do not, we will lose. We will lose our homes, our ways of life, our wellbeing and our livelihoods. We know this because we are experiencing loss already.”

Guterres said climate change particularly affected women, offering the example of the effect of salinisation of food crops on pregnant women and newborn health, and said women needed to be involved in all decisions related to climate change.

“There can be no successful response to a changing climate without also changing mindsets about the role of women in prevention and response,” he said.

Dr Tess Newton Cain, a Pacific analyst and visiting fellow at the Australian National University, said this message was particularly important given there was only one national Pacific leader who was a woman – Hilda Heine, president of the Marshall Islands.

She also said Guterres’ visit was very timely in light of the climate summit in September and that Pacific voices should be key in shaping the agenda.

“What I was particularly struck by was that he was at pains to flag very clearly that not only are Pacific countries on the frontlines when it comes to being victims of climate change impacts but more importantly they’re on the frontline when it comes to resilience and innovation and global leadership,” she said.

“These are small countries that have really not allowed themselves to be seen as hapless victims but they have grasped opportunities to take things forward and lead by example, it’s very pleasing that the UN secretary general has acknowledged that.” </s> The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has praised Fiji as a strong committed partner in peacekeeping and for taking a leading role in the battle against climate change.

Photo: Supplied

Mr Guterres was speaking after formal talks with the Fijian prime minister Frank Bainimarama this morning.

Mr Guterres said it needs to be recognised the battle is not being won for the commitments made in Paris to be respected and there needs to be much stronger political will to rescue the planet.

There was nowhere better than the Pacific to feel the moral duty to rally the international community, he said.

"The prime minister was telling me in the meeting we just had, that climate change corresponds to the battle of our lives from the point of view of Fiji and the Pacific.

"As secretary general of the United Nations , I have many battles but I have no doubt to say that as a grandfather this is also the battle of my life."

Mr Guterres side-stepped a reporter's question on whether human rights issues were discussed with the Fijian prime minister, saying Fiji's progress is being discussed during the Universal Periodic Review process at the UN Human Rights Council.

Guterres told Pacific running out of time for climate action

Earlier, Pacific Island leaders asked the UN Secretary General to tell the world their region is running out of time.

At a meeting yesterday in Fiji, leaders from countries in the Pacific Islands Forum said climate change was the single greatest threat to their region.

Photo: United Nations in the Pacific

In a statement, the leaders welcomed Mr Guterres to witness the everyday reality of climate change and to drive momentum in the lead up to his Climate Action Summit in September.

"After meeting today, we will return to our island homes. Some of us will find our villages inundated by waves and our homes and public infrastructure wrecked by cyclones. Our coral reefs are dying, our food is disappearing, and we fear for the safety of our loved ones, who are being injured and even killed by some of the most ferocious of cyclones and other extreme weather events ever witnessed in our region," the statement said.

"Let us together seize the opportunity of the UNSG's Climate Action Summit to make the changes we need to reverse climate change."

They said all countries attending the summit must agree to reduce global emissions, and to mitigation and adaptation support for countries that need it.

Without agreement, the leaders said people of the Pacific will continue to lose their homes, their ways of life and their livelihoods.

"To the major polluters - our today in the Pacific is undoubtedly your tomorrow.

"Sea level rise in Tuvalu is sea level rise in New York, though one might go under before the other."

Antonio Guterres, acknowledged the message from Pacific leaders saying he stood with them in calling for climate action.

"The Pacific has a unique moral authority to speak out. It is time for the world to listen," he said. </s> This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

United Nations member states have emphatically rejected the US candidate to lead the organisation’s migration agency, despite the risk of financial reprisals from the Trump administration.



Hillary Clinton: 'What is more uncivil than taking children away?' Read more

Ken Isaacs finished a distant third in the last round of voting for the position of director general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a position that has been held by an American since the 1960s.

The decisive vote appeared to be a response to Donald Trump’s policies on migration as well as the rejection of a candidate who had tweeted Islamophobic comments and cast doubt on climate change science.

António Vitorino, a Portuguese Socialist party member who is close to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, was elected despite a determined and well-resourced campaign by the US mission to the UN.

Welcoming Vitorino to the job, the UK’s ambassador to the UN, Karen Pierce, noted in a tweet: “This is one of the most important jobs for the UN and the world today.”

The loss of such an important UN post reflects the latest in a long series of steps – some unintentional but most deliberate – by which the Trump administration is peeling away from multilateral institutions, agreements and diplomacy. In recent days it has emerged that Donald Trump severely disparaged Nato and the European Union, and reportedly told aides he wants to withdraw from the World Trade Organisation.

The Trump administration could well retaliate by cutting funding for the IOM, for which the US is the biggest donor. Earlier this month it pulled out of the UN human rights council, which it said had ignored its calls for reform. In January, the US cut its funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, by more than half, as a punitive measure aimed at the Palestinian political leadership.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The new head of the IOM, António Vitorino, is close to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, a fellow Portuguese. Photograph: Martial Trezzini/EPA

According to Mark Goldberg, editor of the UN Dispatch website, Isaacs’ campaign was probably lost before it began because of Trump’s policies, but the candidate’s views contributed to the scale of the defeat.

“I would say the biggest blow came before Isaacs entered the race, when the Trump administration said it would leave negotiations on the Global Compact on Migration, which the head of the IOM would be expected to implement,” Goldberg said.

“And there is the Trump position on migration, with the separation of children from their parents, which Isaacs hasn’t repudiated in any public way.”

After he was nominated in February, past tweets came back to haunt Isaacs, who works for a Christian charity, Samaritan’s Purse.

Trump trashed Nato at G7, calling it ‘as bad as Nafta’, officials confirm Read more

“Islam is not peaceful,” he wrote in one, and called on Austria and Switzerland to build a wall in the Alps “to control their borders from refugees”. He also shared online conspiracy theories and claimed that climate change was a “hoax”.

Isaacs has apologised for the anti-Islam tweet and insisted he believes in climate change.

Jeremy Konyndyk, a former head of US foreign disaster assistance, said: “The defeat of the United States’ candidate, Ken Isaacs, is a sad statement on US global credibility.”

Konyndyk, now senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, added: “Isaacs was a capable relief expert, but carried significant baggage due to offensive prior statements about refugees and migrants, and apparent climate denialism.

“Putting forward a candidate with this profile was an unwise move by the Trump administration.” </s> WELLINGTON, New Zealand — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that he’s traveling to three South Pacific island nations to see the effects of climate change firsthand.

Speaking in Fiji, the UN leader said he wanted to learn about the work being undertaken by island communities to bolster resilience. He said the Pacific needs stronger international support because climate change is taking place faster than efforts to address it.

“The last four years were the hottest on record. The loss of ice in Greenland and Antarctica is accelerating, meaning that sea levels will rise a full meter (over 3 feet) by 2100 if nothing is done to avoid it,” Guterres said.

“Here in the Pacific, sea-level rise in some countries is four times greater than the global average and is an existential threat to some island states.”

Guterres said island nations should speak out.

“As we look ahead, your voices will remain crucial in global negotiations,” he said. “Your experiences underscore the urgency of the threat and the Pacific has a unique moral authority to speak out. It is time for the world to listen.”

Guterres made the comments at a meeting with officials from the Pacific Islands Forum in Suva, Fiji’s capital.

He also plans to visit the island nations of Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

His trip comes ahead of the Climate Action Summit that he plans to convene in September in New York. </s> WELLINGTON: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has kicked off a major United Nations push for progress on what he calls the defining issue of our time: climate change.

Guterres travelled to New Zealand on Sunday, from where he is set to visit several Pacific islands where rising sea levels are threatening the very existence of those small countries.

The stepped-up diplomacy will culminate with a climate action summit at the UN in September, an event billed as the last chance to prevent irreversible climate change, three years after the Paris agreement went into force.

"We are seeing everywhere a clear demonstration that we are not on track to achieve the objectives defined in the Paris agreement," Guterres said on the failure to limit rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial revolution levels.

In a strong message for action on climate change, Guterres said international political resolve was fading and it was the small island nations that were "really in the front line" and would suffer most.

In Fiji, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, Guterres will meet with families whose lives have been upended by cyclones, flooding and other extreme weather events.

Pacific island countries face an especially dire risk from climate change because of sea level rise.

In some cases, low-lying countries could disappear completely. Fiji is working to build a coalition of more than 90 countries from the Caribbean, Africa and Asia facing the climate crisis.

"We hope that the secretary-general will draw far more inspiration from his first visit to go further, faster and deeper with the climate summit," Fiji's UN Ambassador Satyendra Prasad told AFP.

"We are very hopeful that the climate summit will mark a turning point.

" Guterres on Sunday praised New Zealand's "extremely important" leadership on climate change -- Wellington has introduced legislation to become carbon neutral by 2050 -- but warned that international political resolve was fading.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, speaking at the joint press conference in Auckland, called climate change "the biggest challenge" facing the global community and said it would be "gross negligence" to avoid the issue.

But the UN push on climate change is shaping up amid geopolitical shifts: the United States under Donald Trump has decided to pull out of the Paris agreement to combat global warming, giving China more space to assert its views.

"The Trump administration's disdain for climate diplomacy has left China looking like the main guarantor of the Paris agreement," said Richard Gowan, UN director for the International Crisis Group.

"While China is increasingly active across the UN, other states are suspicious of its stances on human rights and development.

But it is the indispensable power in climate talks now.

" Trump announced in 2017 that the United States would exit the Paris agreement, but under the terms of the deal, the withdrawal will only become effective in 2020.

The US administration is not taking part in summit preparations but has not said it will skip the event, according to UN officials.

Guterres' mission may also be further complicated by Trump's nomination of Kelly Knight Craft as UN ambassador.

Craft, who is married to a major coal magnate, raised eyebrows for declaring that she believed "both sides" of climate science, indicating she may well be out of sync with the UN on the issue.

Guterres has told leaders to bring plans, not speeches, to the summit to be held in New York on September 23 during the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.

The summit is seen as critical because of US resistance to discuss climate change at other forums including the G7 and G20, and again last week at a meeting of the Arctic Council in Finland.

"What people are looking for is countries to commit to major ambition increases in 2025 and 2030 at the summit or in 2020," said Nick Mabey, head of the E3G climate think tank.

This should include legally binding targets for countries to phase out coal, become climate neutral and invest in climate resilience, especially for the poorest countries, he added.

A string of apocalyptic reports on the state of the planet is bringing home the need for concrete steps. One million species are on the brink of extinction.

Carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, pushing targets from the Paris accord further out of reach.

UN climate envoy Luis Alfonso de Alba told AFP on Friday that he was optimistic about prospects for a breakthrough on climate, saying the dire predictions were having a galvanising effect.

"The situation worldwide is quite different from what it was five to 10 years ago. Five to 10 years ago, countries were looking at their neighbours before acting," he said.

Today, everybody has full conscience of the urgency to act, and they are not going to wait for their neighbours to act. </s> 6 October 2016 –New York (ABC Live): António Guterres : The Security Council today formally chose the former Prime Minister of Portugal, António Guterres, as its nominee to be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations for a five-year term when incumbent Ban Ki-moon steps down on 31 December.

The recommendation, made in a resolution adopted in a private meeting by acclamation, now goes to the 193-member General Assembly for formal approval.

On an official visit to Italy, Mr. Ban said in Rome this morning that Mr. António Guterres is “an excellent choice,” noting that the two had worked closely during Mr. Guterres “long and outstanding tenure” as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

“António Guterres showed deep compassion for the millions of people who were forced to leave their homes,” Mr. Ban said, adding: “His past experience as Prime Minister of Portugal, his extensive knowledge of world affairs and his keen intelligence will serve him to lead the United Nations at a crucial period.”

Under procedures for appointing the world body’s new chief, after the recommendation is transmitted from the Council to the Assembly, a draft resolution is issued for the Assembly to take action. After appropriate consultations with Member States, the Assembly President fixes a date for the draft to be taken up.

The last five Secretaries-General were appointed by the Assembly through a resolution adopted by consensus. A vote will take place only if a Member State requests it and a simple majority of those voting would be required for the Assembly to adopt the resolution. But the Assembly could decide that the decision requires a two-thirds majority. If a vote is taken, it will be by secret ballot

The UN Charter, signed in 1945 as the foundation of the Organization, says relatively little about how a Secretary-General is to be selected, aside from Article 97, which notes that the candidate “shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.”

At its first session in 1946, the General Assembly was much more active in the selection process. It created resolution A/RES/1/11 determining that the Council take the lead in the selection process, agree on a single name in a private meeting, and pass that name down to the General Assembly for a vote.

Yesterday, Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds the Security Council presidency for the month, informed the President of the Assembly, Peter Thomson, that after the sixth informal “straw poll” for the position of Secretary-General, Mr. Guterres had emerged as the clear favourite.

In addition to Mr. Guterres, 12 other candidates were in the running to succeed the current UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, who leaves office at the end of the year.

Today’s decision by the Security Council brings the UN closer towards the culmination of an historic process: the selection of a new United Nations Secretary-General, traditionally decided behind closed-doors by a few powerful countries, has for the first time in history, involved public discussions with each candidate campaigning for the world’s top diplomatic post.

These so-called ‘informal briefings’ between the candidates, UN Member States and civil society representatives kicked off on 12 April, when the first three candidates presented their ‘vision statements’ and answered questions on how they would promote sustainable development, improve efforts to create peace, protect human rights, and deal with huge humanitarian catastrophes should they be selected to lead the Organization.

In addition, this past July, the UN held its first-ever globally televised and webcast townhall-style debate in the General Assembly Hall, where the confirmed candidates at the time took questions from diplomats and the public at large. </s> KATOWICE, Poland (Reuters) - Nearly 200 countries overcame political divisions late on Saturday to agree on rules for implementing a landmark global climate deal, but critics say it is not ambitious enough to prevent the dangerous effects of global warming.

After two weeks of talks in the Polish city of Katowice, nations finally reached consensus on a more detailed framework for the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to limit a rise in average world temperatures to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

“It is not easy to find agreement on a deal so specific and technical. Through this package you have made a thousand little steps forward together. You can feel proud,” Polish president of the talks Michal Kurtyka told delegates.

After he struck the gavel to signal agreement had been reached, ministers joined him on the stage, hugging and laughing in signs of relief after the marathon talks.

Before the talks started, many expected the deal would not be as robust as needed. The unity which underpinned the Paris talks has fragmented, and U.S. President Donald Trump intends to pull his country - one of the world’s biggest emitters - out of the pact.

Related Coverage Climate talks pass baton in race to stop global warming

At the 11th hour, ministers managed to break a deadlock between Brazil and other countries over the accounting rules for the monitoring of carbon credits, deferring the bulk of that discussion to next year, but missing an opportunity to send a signal to businesses to speed up their actions.

Still, exhausted ministers managed to bridge a series of divides to produce a 156-page rulebook - which is broken down into themes such as how countries will report and monitor their national pledges to curb greenhouse gas emissions and update their emissions plans.

Not everyone is happy with everything, but the process is still on track and it is something to build on, several ministers said.

“While some rulebook elements still need to be fleshed out, it is a foundation for strengthening the Paris Agreement and could help facilitate U.S. re-entry into the Paris Agreement by a future presidential administration,” said Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

COP24 President Michal Kurtyka is greeted after adopting the final agreement during a closing session of the COP24 U.N. Climate Change Conference 2018 in Katowice, Poland, December 15, 2018. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

AMBITION, AMBITION, AMBITION

Some countries and green groups criticized the outcome for failing to urge increased ambitions on emissions cuts sufficiently to curb rising temperatures. Poorer nations vulnerable to climate change also wanted more clarity on how an already agreed $100 billion a year of climate finance by 2020 will be provided and on efforts to build on that amount further from the end of the decade.

A statement by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who left the talks on Thursday, stressed the need for more work.

“From now on, my five priorities will be: ambition, ambition, ambition, ambition and ambition,” it said.

“And ambition must guide all member states as they prepare their (emissions cut plans) for 2020 to reverse the present trend in which climate change is still running faster than us.”

A U.N.-commissioned report by the IPCC in October warned that keeping the Earth’s temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C would need “unprecedented changes” in every aspect of society.

Last week, Saudi Arabia, the Unites States, Russia and Kuwait refused to use the word “welcome” in association with the findings of the report.

Slideshow (8 Images)

The decision text now merely expresses gratitude for the work on the report, welcomes its timely completion and invites parties to use the information in it.

For many low-lying states and islands at risk from rising sea levels, this is not strong enough but had to be accepted grudgingly in exchange for other trade-offs.

During the two weeks of talks in Katowice - in the mining region of Silesia, a focus on the fossil fuel industry provided an unwelcome distraction for some countries and environmental groups which want to focus on cleaner energy.

The conference itself has been hosted by coal-reliant Poland, which has sought to protect its mining industry. The U.S. administration’s only event in Katowice was seen as trying to rebrand coal as a potentially clean energy source.
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres says Pacific island nations are "running out of time" in regards to climate change and global warming effects.