GLASGOW (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told leaders that failure at a conference on global warming would mean they should have to come back with improved pledges every year rather than according to the current 5-year timetable.
“If commitments fall short at the end of this COP, countries must revisit their national climate plans and policies – not every five years (but) every year and every moment,” Guterres told leaders at the opening COP26 ceremony in Glasgow.
He said there was often “a deficit of credibility and a surplus of confusion over emissions reductions and net zero targets”. He also said the United Nations was setting up an expert group to measure and analyse net zero commitments of non-state actors.
(Reporting by William James and Mark John; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
