GENEVA, Jan 28, 2021 (BSS/XINHUA) – The issue of how to save the planet
from global warming and efforts to mobilize action against climate change
came under the spotlight at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos Agenda on
Wednesday, as Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of weakening
international institutions and the threats of conflicts.
ONE EARTH, ONE SHARED FUTURE
In the “Mobilizing Action on Climate Change” session, Chinese Minister of
Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu urged a united front in tackling the
climate crisis.
“There is only one Earth and one shared future for humanity. We need to
work together because we are one community to face climate change. This is
the most powerful tool,” Huang said.
Meanwhile, during the “Financing the ‘Net-Zero’ Transition” panel, former
U.S. Vice President Al Gore said that “the world appears to be close to a new
alignment to start flowing a mix of private and public investment funds” to
enable the “net-zero” transformation of industries to zero carbon emissions.
Swiss Re CEO Christian Mumenthaler stressed that even if companies may not
know how to achieve “net-zero” by 2050, they should take “a leap of faith”
and set the target that “I really feel we are at a tipping point in terms of
action.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the WEF, the Energy Transitions Commission think tank,
NGO Rocky Mountain Institute, and the We Mean Business coalition launched the
Mission Possible Partnership in a bid to accelerate the decarbonization of
heavy industry and transport.
The partnership, which brings together over 400 companies, builds on the
work launched at the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit
in 2019 to help seven heavy industry sectors cut their carbon emissions, the
WEF announced during the Davos Agenda meeting.
PUTIN SPEECH
During his special address on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin
warned that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the preexisting problems
and imbalances.
“We have every reason to believe that the tensions might aggravate
further,” he said. “International institutions are weakening, regional
conflicts are multiplying, the global security system is degrading.”
Referring to the 20th century and the “catastrophic World War II”, Putin
said that “nowadays, such a heated conflict is not possible. I hope that it
is not possible in principle, because it will mean the end of our
civilization.”
“But I’d like to reiterate that the situation might develop unpredictably
and uncontrollably if we sit on our hands doing nothing to avoid it. There’s
a possibility that we might experience an actual collapse of global
development that might result in a fight of all against all.”
Putin also called for more multilateralism, international dialogue and
cooperation to tackle the current challenges.
COVID-19 THREAT
On Tuesday, Johns Hopkins University data showed that global COVID-19 cases
surpassed 100 million.
In his special address, South Korean President Moon Jae-in called on the
world to “further reinforce solidarity and collaboration” in the fight
against the virus.
“The economy is recovering, but the polarizations and inequities brought by
the pandemic are growing even bigger. As COVID-19 is becoming more prolonged,
inequality is widening a gap that we are witnessing both within countries and
between countries,” he said.
According to its latest World Economic Outlook on Tuesday, the
International Monetary Fund now forecasts the global economy to grow 5.5
percent this year and expand by 4.2 percent in 2022, but warned that COVID-19
variants pose risks to the post-pandemic recovery.
A special address planned for Wednesday by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe
Conte at the WEF was cancelled following his resignation the day before.
The virtual WEF Davos Agenda meeting, which usually takes place in the
Swiss mountain town of Davos, lasts until Friday.