United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses members of the U.N. Security Council during a high-level meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine at U.N. headquarters in New York City, U.S., September 23, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab
WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called on all countries that are party to the Paris climate agreement to set new climate plans for the year 2035 that achieve faster and deeper emission reduction cuts than they’ve already pledged.
Guterres is hosting a climate leaders summit on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, where he has asked countries to announce their new climate targets to drum up momentum for the global COP30 climate negotiations in November in Brazil.
The summit comes a day after U.S. President Donald Trump used his UNGA speech to blast climate change as a “con job” and criticize countries like EU member states and China for embracing renewable energy technologies.
The world’s biggest historical emitter and second biggest greenhouse gas emitter behind China, the U.S. is currently withdrawing from the Paris agreement, the 10-year-old climate pact that aimed to prevent global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius through national climate plans.
“The Paris Agreement has made a difference,” Guterres said in prepared remarks, adding that since it was adopted in 2015, projected global temperature rise has dropped from four degrees C to 2.6 — if current national climate plans are fully implemented.
“Now, we need new plans for 2035 that go much further, much faster,” he said.
The European Union has not reached agreement on its new U.N.-mandated climate target in time for Wednesday’s summit, and has instead drafted plans to submit a temporary goal, which could change later, an EU negotiating document seen by Reuters showed.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on China, which has previously pledged to achieve net-zero before 2060, which would require a roughly 30% emissions reduction by 2035 below peak 2024 levels, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
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Valerie Volcovici covers U.S. climate and energy policy from Washington, DC. She is focused on climate and environmental regulations at federal agencies and in Congress and how the energy transition is transforming the United States. Other areas of coverage include her award-winning reporting plastic pollution and the ins and outs of global climate diplomacy and United Nations climate negotiations.
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