UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses climate change on September 10, 2018. (Photo: Yin Miao)

China's ambassador to the UN, Ma Zhaoxu speaks with reporters on September 10, 2018. (Photo: Yin Miao)

New York (People’s Daily) - The world risks crossing the point of no return on climate change, with disastrous consequences for people living on the planet and the natural systems that sustain them, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Monday, calling for more leadership and greater ambition for climate action to reverse the course.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, the past two decades included 18 of the warmest years since 1850, when daily weather patterns were first recorded. This year is shaping up to be the fourth hottest. Extreme heat waves, wildfires, storms, and floods are leaving a trail of death and devastation.

The pledge made by world leaders in the Paris Agreement three years ago to stop temperature rising by less than 2-degree-Celsius and working to keep the increase as close as possible to 1.5-degree-Celsius, “were really the bare minimum to avoid the worst impacts of climate change,” said Secretary-General Guterres, in a landmark speech on climate action, at UN Headquarters in New York.

“We need to put the brake on deadly greenhouse gas emissions and drive climate action,” Guterres added, calling for a shift away from the dependency on fossil fuels towards cleaner energy and away from deforestation to more efficient use of resources.

“In China and the United States, new renewable energy jobs now outstrip those created in the oil and gas industries. Last year, China invested $126 billion in renewable energy, an increase of 30 per cent on the previous year,” he pointed out.

Looking ahead, the UN chief emphasized he would be reiterating this message at the General Assembly’s high-level segment later in the month as well as at other key events, including the G7 and G20 meetings; and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings.

"The time has come for our leaders to show they care about the people whose fate they hold in their hands. We need them to show they care about the future,” he stressed.

In response to the UN Chief’s remarks, Ambassador Ma Zhaoxu, China’s permanent representative to the UN, said in an interview that Secretary-General Guterres evaluated China’s important efforts to combat climate change and its leading role in a positive manner.

“Addressing climate change is a common cause of mankind and China has always been an active participant in global response to climate change,” Ma said.

Ma also said that Guterres greatly values China’s crucial role in contributing to global governance such as climate change and the actions taken by China have provided essential support for the UN and multilateralism.