Speaking at a press conference on June 28, 2019 during the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, UN Secretary General António Guterres called on countries to ensure international agreements on climate change and other issues are implemented “independent of the political will of this or that statesman.” The following is an edited excerpt of his remarks:  

The UN Climate Action Summit will be held in New York in September. That is the reason why we are appealing to the leaders here in relation to a much stronger commitment of their countries for climate action. 

There are many aspects that are absolutely essential. Putting a price on carbon, ending subsidies for fossil fuels, not accepting the idea that we still have an escalation of construction of coal power plants and many other aspects are extremely relevant in order to make sure that we are able to abide by what the scientific communities are telling us is absolutely essential to rescue the planet. 

It’s important that the international community is able to stand together and make sure that what was agreed in Paris and what was agreed in other forums move forward independent of the political will of this or that statesman.  

(Reporting by Yuan Yuan from Osaka, Japan)  

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