Adedokun Waliyu 
UN Secretary-General, António Guterres has appealed to world leaders attending the ongoing two-day G20 summit in India to come together to solve humanity’s biggest challenges.
The UN chief is attending the G20 summit with the theme of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’.
According to Guterres, in order to address humanity’s largest problems, global leadership is especially necessary in the two critical areas of climate action and sustainable development.
“We have no time to waste,” added Guterres, who announced the decision at a press conference, emphasising that difficulties are everywhere.
He warned that the world was in a difficult transitional moment, faced with rising inequality, poverty and hunger levels and yet a distinct lack of global solidarity.
“We cannot go on like this. We must come together and act together for the common good,” he said.
As the primary producers of greenhouse gases, accounting for 80% of all global emissions, Guterres stated that G20 members needed to take a more proactive role in addressing climate change.
“Leadership means keeping the 1.5-degree goal alive; rebuilding trust based on climate justice; and advancing a just and equitable transition to a green economy.”
He added that leadership also meant wealthier countries finally delivering on their long-standing funding commitments to help developing countries meet their targets for reducing emissions, such as through the Green Climate Fund.
The secretary-general said leaders must also take concrete action to ensure the world achieves the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on schedule by 2030.
Guterres said that “together, these actions would catalyze SDG progress and help developing economies invest in key transitions across energy, food systems, digital, education, health, decent jobs and social protection.
“We must act together as one family to save our one Earth and safeguard our future.”
He added that significant progress towards the goals was still within reach so long as there was goodwill from all countries, regions and groups.
