Scolded for doing little, leader after leader promised the United Nations on Monday to do more to prevent a warming world from reaching even more dangerous levels.
As they made their pledges at the Climate Action Summit, though, they and others conceded it was not enough. And even before they spoke, teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg shamed them over and over for their inaction: sa国际传媒淗ow dare you?sa国际传媒�
Sixty-six countries have promised to have more ambitious climate goals, and 30 swore to be carbon neutral by midcentury, said Chilean President Sebastian Pinera Echenique, who is hosting the next climate negotiations later this year.
Businesses and charities also got in on the act, at times even going bigger than major nations. Microsoft founder Bill Gates announced Monday that his foundation, along with The World Bank and some European governments, would provide $790 million in financial help to 300 million of the worldsa国际传媒檚 small farmers adapt to climate change. The Gates foundation pledged $310 million of that.
sa国际传媒淭he world can still prevent the absolute worst effects of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing new technologies and sources of energy,sa国际传媒� Gates said. sa国际传媒淏ut the effects of rising temperatures are already under way.sa国际传媒�
As the day went on Monday and the promises kept coming, the United States seemed out in the cold.
Before world leaders made their promises in three-minute speeches, the 16-year-old Thunberg gave an emotional appeal in which she scolded the leaders with her repeated phrase, sa国际传媒淗ow dare you?sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淭his is all wrong. I shouldnsa国际传媒檛 be up here,sa国际传媒� said Thunberg, who began a lone protest outside the Swedish parliament more than a year ago that culminated in Fridaysa国际传媒檚 global climate strikes.
sa国际传媒淚 should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you have come to us young people for hope. How dare you. You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淲e are in the beginning of a mass extinction and yet all you can talk about is money,sa国际传媒� Thunberg said. sa国际传媒淵ou are failing us.sa国际传媒�
Later, she and 15 other youth activists filed a formal complaint with an arm of the U.N. that protects children, saying that governmentssa国际传媒� lack of action on warming is violating their basic rights.
Outside experts say they heard a lot of talk Monday but not the promised action needed to keep warming to a few tenths of a degree. They say it wonsa国际传媒檛 produce the dramatic changes the world requires.
sa国际传媒淪ometimes I feel that Greta is still out in front of the Swedish parliament out on her own,sa国际传媒� said Stanford Universitysa国际传媒檚 Rob Jackson, who chairs the Global Carbon Project, which targets carbon emissions across the world.
READ MORE: 16-year-old Swedish activist sails across Atlantic to attend climate meeting
sa国际传媒淭he ball they are moving forward is a ball of promises,sa国际传媒� said economist John Reilly, co-director of MITsa国际传媒檚 Joint Center for Global Change. sa国际传媒淲here the sa国际传媒榖allsa国际传媒� of actual accomplishments is, is another question.sa国际传媒�
Of all the countries that came up short, World Resources Institute Vice-President Helen Mountford said one stood out: the United States for sa国际传媒渘ot coming to the table and engaging.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淲hat wesa国际传媒檝e seen so far is not the kind of climate leadership we need from the major economies,sa国际传媒� Mountford said. She did say, however, that businesses, as well as small- and medium-sized countries had sa国际传媒渆xciting initiatives.sa国际传媒�
Nations such as Finland and Germany promised to ban coal within a decade. Several also mentioned goals of climate neutrality sa国际传媒� when a country is not adding more heat-trapping carbon to the air than is being removed by plants and perhaps technology sa国际传媒� by 2050.
The Associated Press
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