Guterres warns over climate action 'tipping point'

The head of the United Nations said on Thursday that nations had reached a "tipping point on the need for climate action" and recommended "immediate, rapid and large scale reductions in green house gas emissions" to avert serious climate consequences.

Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations said "We have reached the tipping point on the need for climate action. The disruption to our planet and our climate is already worse than we thought and it is moving faster than predicted. Yet, we are far from meeting the goals of the five-year old Paris Agreement. This report shows just how far off course we are. Unless there are immediate, rapid and large scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, we will be unable to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius."

The Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization said that it was encouraging "many countries worldwide are aiming at becoming carbon neutral by 2050 or 2060".