World leaders should declare states of "climate emergency" to spur faster cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday at a summit marking the fifth anniversary of the Paris climate accord. Dozens of world leaders addressed the one-day virtual gathering, aimed at building momentum for more ambitious national commitments ahead of a pivotal round of climate talks due to take place in Glasgow in late 2021, according to Reuters. Guterres said economic recovery packages launched in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic should represent an opportunity to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon future - but said this was not happening fast enough. On the eve of the summit on Friday, co-host Britain had announced it would end direct government support for overseas fossil fuel projects, aiming to spur similar moves by other countries to accelerate a shift to cleaner energy. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the summit that countries could work together to radically cut dependence on fossil fuels, change agricultural practices, and reverse the process by which for centuries humanity has been quilting the planet in "a toxic teacosy" of greenhouse gases.
