"The next two years are essential to save our planet." The executive secretary of UNEP, the UN environmental agency, said this in a speech at Chatham House.
"We still have a chance to bring down greenhouse gas emissions with a new generation of national climate plans. But we need these stronger plans now." For Stiell "the leadership of the G20 must be at the center of the solution, as it was during the great financial crisis", because "the G20 emissions are around 80% of global ones".
"A leap forward in climate finance this year is both essential and entirely achievable - continued the UNEP secretary -. It is time to move these dollars from the energy and infrastructure of the past to those of a cleaner and more resilient future ".
According to Stiell "this year at COP28 in Baku we must agree on a new objective for climate finance that meets the needs of developing countries". But "we need a new agreement on climate finance between developed and developing countries", which includes "more concessionary finance, new sources of environmental finance, a reform of development banks and debt cuts for developing countries" .
"The G7, chaired by Italy this year, also has an absolutely crucial role - said the UNEP secretary -. The G7 governments are the key shareholders of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It is totally in the interest of every country in the G7 to take much bolder climate action at home and abroad, including climate finance."
"It is not enough to invest in clean energy and resilient infrastructure - said Stiell - without measures that also accelerate the decline of fossil fuels".