Guterres welcomes G-20 commitment to fight climate change

United Nations, Dec 3 (IANS) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has welcomed the declaration released on Saturday at the conclusion of the 2018 G-20 meeting, which reaffirms a commitment to raise ambition in the fight against climate change.

Guterres, in a statement released on Sunday, picked out three key messages from the statement, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Support for the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, the UN’s global blueprint for a fair globalisation that leaves no one behind, is reaffirmed in the document, along with a pledge to use all policy tools to achieve strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth," said the secretary-general.

As well as stressing the need to raise ambition in the fight against climate change, the G-20 leaders express their very strong support of countries that are signatories to the 2015 Paris Agreement, to implement their commitments set out in their nationally determined contributions, the UN chief added.

The G-20 declaration states that the leaders look forward to "successful outcomes" of the COP24 climate change conference, which begins in Katowice, Poland from December 3.

In the declaration, said the UN chief, G-20 leaders also recognise the importance of a multilateral approach to trade and of the reform of the World Trade Organization, and renew their commitment to a rules-based international order.

The secretary-general concluded with a reminder that the G-20 comprises the world’s leading emitters of environmentally harmful gases, and that the declaration "provides hope" for a solution to a global challenge that he has described as a direct existential threat: "these agreements by the leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies, which also contribute the largest share of global green-house gas emissions, can help rally the international community to make sure that climate change is a race we can win."

G-20 leaders concluded a fruitful summit Saturday, exchanging in-depth views on building consensus for fair and sustainable development.

The group issued a declaration after the two-day summit, sending a positive signal to the international community and market.