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Time to take climate action to next level: UN chief

Xinhua, May 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday urged the world's nations to "take climate action to the next level," two weeks after 175 governments signed the historic Paris Agreement on climate change in New York.

"We need action now," Ban said at the opening of the Climate Action 2016 summit in Washington D.C., a two-day meeting seeking to accelerate global action on climate change.

"Temperatures continue to climb. Arctic sea ice is melting fast. Droughts, storms and floods are costing lives and productivity," he said.

Ban stressed the need to accelerate the speed, scope and scale of response in the fight against climate change, both locally and globally.

He also called for "a radical transformation of the global economy" in order to realize the goal of achieving a zero-carbon world in the second half of this century.

Specially, the UN chief thanked China and the United States, two of the world's largest emitters, for their leadership in tackling climate change.

"Both have pledged significant reductions in their emissions," he said. "And both have agreed in Paris on transparent rules of the road to monitor progress, enhance accountability and foster a race to the top to drive climate ambition."

Also speaking at the event, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim called for investment in lower-carbon transport systems to move goods off roads and onto rail and waterways, and help move people in a more sustainable way.

Otherwise, the world would see emissions from transport account for up to 33 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, an increase from the current 23 percent, Jim said.

"Inaction means we will not meet our targets set in Paris, and the global temperature will soar above 2 degrees Celsius," he said. "That would spell disaster for us, for our children, and for the planet."

Over the course of two days, the summit will bring together nearly 700 people from various circles to discuss how to deliver on climate commitments and embed the transformation agenda globally in government, key sectors and among the general population. Endit