UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed on Saturday said the industry sector needs front runners for the world to speed up its pace to become low carbon and climate resilient.
At a meeting setting the context for the industry transition program at the upcoming Climate Action Summit, Mohammed said the much needed transition "is not coming fast enough" and the "climate change is still running much faster than we are."
She said, "We need front runners in the industry sector, particularly in the cement, the steel, chemicals, and heavy duty transportation" to achieve that transition, noting these fields annually make around 10 Giga tons of carbon dioxide, some 30 percent of the global emissions.
She added these are harder-to-abate sectors, which need significant help to transition, because of the tougher solutions, and "honest conversations" at the climate summit set for Monday.
Moreover, she pointed out that the cement and steel can be developed in a low emission manner and can be produced without the utilization of coking coal. "It is our responsibility to make sure these solutions be moved beyond pilots and they can reach the scale needed to make that difference."
She added cement and steel can be recycled and reused, and asked, "Why are we not producing the new high-emission materials instead of reusing them?" She called for the industry sector to "give some meaning" to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and practice "sustainable consumption and production."
Appealing to industry leaders, the UN deputy chief said they have important roles to play. "Your presence today sends the signal that we are all together in our battle against climate disruption."
She urged them to put people at the heart of the low-carbon transition so as to enable all to benefit from the transition.
She also called on them to support emerging economies to develop green industry from the start and help them thrive by leapfrogging the newest technologies available.
