UN, September 18. /TASS/. Climate change and the sustainable development agenda for the upcoming decade will be in the limelight of the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Week to begin next Monday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday.
"On Monday, I will convene the climate action summit," he said, adding that during a visit to the Bahamas a few days ago, he witnessed the destruction caused by Hurricane Dorian. "And, unfortunately, extreme weather events will only produce more hellscapes for more people. That is what science has been telling us all along."
"Once again, the imperative to act could not be more clear, and this is exactly why I am convening the Climate Action Summit," he continued. "I expect there will be an announcement and unveiling of a number of meaningful plans on dramatically reducing emissions during the next decade, and on reaching carbon neutrality by 2050."
The UN chief said the current agenda lists a series of promising initiatives, including those aimed at moving away from coal and cutting the pollution.
"I told leaders not to come with fancy speeches, but with concrete commitments," Guterres said.
On Tuesday, September 24, the discussion will focus on sustainable development goals.
"Leaders will gather to focus on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development - and we will launch a Decade of Action to deliver results," Guterres said. "And we must look ahead not through the prism of the economy of the last decade, but the economy of the next decade, seizing the potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution but also safeguarding against its dangers."
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 for the year 2030. The SDGs include No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-being and Quality Education.