New York, United States, Greenpeace International has welcomed the final outcome of the United Nations Summit of the Future as Heads of State commit to “transitioning away from fossil fuels” in the agreed Pact for the Future.

In response, Greenpeace International Executive Director Mads Christensen said:“This a positive signal for the road ahead, but the real work is in implementation and political leaders must now turn this promise into action. Halfway through this critical decade, this pact must actually deliver a future the people want – a safe climate and a future free of fossil fuels”.

“Ahead of COP29 in Baku and beyond, leaders must unveil 1.5°C-aligned national action plans with phase out dates for coal, oil and gas. Year-upon-year of record temperatures are leaving a trail of destruction and the consequences of failing to act fast enough are becoming increasingly dire: loss of life, failed crops, forests burned and millions displaced”.

“A repeated COP28 commitment to transition away from fossil fuels is a good first step, but it’s the bare minimum of what’s required. At COP29, leaders must also support the establishment of a robust post-2025 climate finance goal to help fund climate action and adaptation”.

“In the Pact for the Future agreed in New York, leaders also recognised the “importance of conserving, protecting and restoring nature and ecosystems towards achieving the Paris Agreement temperature goal”.

Christensen added: “The twin climate and biodiversity crises demand that leaders urgently recognise at COP16 in Cali that both of these challenges need to be tackled together. As the earth burns, so too does biodiversity. We need to end the cycle and stop climate change and protect nature. 

“Parties must ensure that national efforts for biodiversity and climate are mutually reinforcing and recognise that protecting and restoring high integrity, carbon-dense ecosystems like primary forests is critical.

“That requires adequate resourcing and the delivery of the US $20 billion per year by 2025 and US $30 billion by 2030 in financing to advance the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).”

ENDS

Contacts:

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours): [email protected] Follow @greenpeacepress for our latest international press releases