Madrid: Business and political leaders are misleading the public by holding negotiations that are not leading to real action against warming temperatures, which she referred to as a climate emergency, teen climate activist Greta Thunberg says.
"The real danger is when politicians and CEOs are making it look like real action is happening, when in fact almost nothing is being done, apart from clever accounting and creative PR," the Swedish 16-year-old said on Wednesday in a speech at the plenary of the ongoing UN climate talks in Madrid, or COP25.
Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has addressed the COP25 summit, criticising politicians and CEOs for their lack of response to environmental issues.
"Finding holistic solutions is what the COP should be all about, but instead it seems to have turned into some kind of opportunity for countries to negotiate loopholes and to avoid raising their ambition."
The
activist, whose speech garnered wide applause, cited scientific reports
that have established that unchecked warming above 1.5 degrees Celsius
for the planet would be catastrophic."Finding holistic solutions is what the COP should be all about, but instead it seems to have turned into some kind of opportunity for countries to negotiate loopholes and to avoid raising their ambition."
She also said pledges to reduce emissions were not enough, carbon needed to remain underground and greenhouse gases responsible for rising temperatures needed to be brought to zero.
"This is not leading, this is misleading," she said, adding "every fraction of a degree matters".
Politicians
in Madrid are grappling with outstanding issues in the implementation
of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to avert catastrophic global
warming, including the spiny issue of accounting for carbon emissions.
Many countries and companies are relying
on the idea of carbon markets to meet goals to cut greenhouse gas
output and help limit temperature rises to between 1.5-2 degrees Celsius
above pre-industrial levels.
Supporters
of carbon markets say they can serve to lower the cost of reducing
emissions and enable countries to commit to more ambitious targets.
Others see them as a way to stall more aggressive action to cut
emissions.
Thunberg said many pledges to balance out emissions in this way did not include the impact of shipping, aviation and international trade, and called for quicker action.
Links
Thunberg said many pledges to balance out emissions in this way did not include the impact of shipping, aviation and international trade, and called for quicker action.
Links
- COP25 summit: China leads attack on ‘imbalances’ in UN climate talks
- COP25 climate summit: put children at heart of tackling crisis, says UN
- Greta Thunberg Lashes Out at Greenwashing CEOs at COP25
- Anger as protestors barred from UN climate talks
- Major emitters accused of blocking progress
- Amazon oil boom under fire at UN climate talks
- What does Africa want from the UN climate summit?
- Madrid climate talks will set the tone for Glasgow
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