Draghi says Italy pushing for G20 1.5C commitment

Draghi said Italy, which holds the rotating G20 presidency and which is co-hosting the forthcoming COP26 climate summit with Britain, would be "pushing countries to honour their climate pledges and, in some cases, stand ready to make bolder ones".

Heads of the G20 nations will convene in Rome on October 30, just a day before COP26 -- billed as vital to the success of the Paris climate deal -- gets underway in Glasgow.

The 2015 Paris Agreement committed nations to limit global warming to "well below" 2C and to strive for a safer temperature cap of 1.5C.

"The G20 includes countries that make up more than 80 percent of world GDP and over 75 percent of emissions," Draghi told a gathering of youth climate activists in Milan.

"We want to achieve a G20 commitment about the need to keep 1.5C within reach. And we want to develop long-term strategies that are consistent with 1.5C."

Several G20 members, including the European Union, have committed to carbon neutral economies by around mid-century.

But the UN says that global emissions must fall more than seven percent each year this decade to keep 1.5C in play.

Six years on from the Paris accord, the latest round of national emissions cutting pledges put Earth on course to heat a "catastrophic" 2.7C this century, according to a UN assessment this month.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in August said that the 1.5C threshold would be breached by mid-century under all emissions scenarios, but that rapid decarbonisation could drag temperatures back below the cap by 2100.

Time for 'wise choices' on climate: Pope
Milan (AFP) Sept 29, 2021 - Pope Francis said Wednesday it was "time to take wise choices" for the future of planet in a message to youth activists ahead of a crunch UN climate summit next month.

"Solutions can be found to overcome energy poverty and to place the care of the commons at the centre of national and international policies," Francis said in a video message to the Youth4Climate gathering in Milan.

"It is time to take wise choices to take advantage of the many experiences acquired over the last few years, in order to make possible a culture of care, a culture of responsible sharing."

These included "favouring sustainable production, circular economy, and the sharing of appropriate technologies," the Pontiff said.

The more than 400 young people from 200 nations gathered in Milan are working on a joint declaration to be given to the hosts of the COP26 climate summit, which begins October 31 in Glasgow.

The Pope congratulated the activists on their "work for the good of humanity."

On Tuesday, youth activists Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate opened the three-day event by blasting world leaders for decades of empty promises over the climate.

Francis said that "political and technical solutions" were not enough to address the scale of the challenge posed by global warming.

Efforts needed to be "sustained by the responsibility of each member and by an educational process that favours a cultural model of development and sustainability", he said.

Keep up climate pressure, UN chief tells youth
Milan (AFP) Sept 30, 2021 - UN chief Antonio Guterres urged young people on Thursday to keep up their pressure on world leaders, praising them for "setting a powerful example" ahead of a vital climate summit next month.

"The window of opportunity to prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis is closing quickly," he told hundreds of youth activists gathered in Milan.

"We know what needs to be done and we have the tools to do it. Young people have been in the forefront of putting forward positive solutions, advocating for climate justice and holding leaders to account."

The COP26 UN climate summit, which begins October 31 in Glasgow, is being billed as crucial to the continued success of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

The landmark 2015 accord commits nations to limiting global temperature rises to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels through sweeping emissions cuts.

Countries also promised to work towards a safer temperature cap of 1.5C.

But emissions have continued to rise in the six years since the deal, while the latest round of national carbon-cutting pledges puts Earth on track to warm a "catastrophic" 2.7C this century, according to a UN assessment this month.

Guterres urged delegates in Glasgow to bring their emissions plans in line with a 1.5C pathway.

"This means that they must commit to net-zero by mid-century, with ambitious 2030 targets, and clear plans to achieve them," he said.

The UN chief also called on developed nations at COP26 to make good on their promise to deliver $100 billion each year to countries already bearing the brunt of climate disasters.

The activists in Milan will outline their priorities for climate action in a joint communique to be presented to ministers meeting Saturday as part of pre-COP preparations.

"Your solidarity and demands for action set a powerful example," Guterres told the youth delegates.

"We need national leaders to follow your example and ensure the ambition and results we need at COP26 and beyond."

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose country will host COP26, said via video link that "young people around the world are already paying the price for the reckless actions of their elders."

"There is still just enough time to put on the brakes. We know what needs to be done, we just have to get on with it. Change on the scale we need is perfectly possible."

Johnson summed up the summit aims as: "Coal, cars, cash and trees."

"We want to move away from using coal as a way we generate electricity and move towards renewables," he said.

"We want everybody to stop using internal combustion engine vehicles. We want to raise the funds that the whole world needs -- the developing world in particular -- to tackle climate change, and we need to plant hundreds of billions if not trillions of trees," Johnson said.

"If we do that, we can make COP a success."