Climate Summit Held... US and China Leaders Absent from Speeches as Major Carbon Emitters

The Climate Ambition Summit was held, but it ended as a half-hearted meeting as the leaders of the major carbon-emitting countries?the United States, China, and India?did not participate in the speeches.

On the 20th (local time), the "2023 Climate Ambition Summit," a side event of the United Nations General Assembly, was held at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA. This event was organized to urge countries to take climate action ahead of the upcoming COP28, the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, scheduled for November.

At this meeting, Secretary-General Guterres announced that only high-level leaders would be allowed to speak. Regarding this, The Washington Post (WP) reported that the major parties responsible for climate change did not take a leading role in the meeting. WP pointed out, "The leaders of the world's two largest carbon emitters, China and the United States, were not included among the speakers," adding, "These two countries were placed on the B-list."

In fact, among the world's four largest carbon-emitting entities, only Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission representing the European Union (EU), was invited as a speaker. China and India did not attend the UN General Assembly at all. The United States was represented not by the national leader but by Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, who took the podium.

With the absence of major countries, no new commitments related to climate response were mentioned beyond measures such as Canada and some EU countries pledging to invest more financial resources in climate funds for developing countries.

In response, developing countries expressed dissatisfaction that attention was focused on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting held simultaneously with the event.

Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, said, "I hope that climate change can be discussed as seriously as the Ukraine issue is in the Security Council," adding, "Climate change poses a greater threat as it endangers more lives worldwide."

WP analyzed that the meeting reflected the reality of the UN facing a crisis of credibility. The COP has long failed to reach a clear international consensus on climate issues.