"Dramatic Shift": World Reacts To UN Climate Solutions

Campaigners and leaders of countries vulnerable to climate change said Monday's UN report on stemming the climate crisis is an urgent call to action for the rich world.

Here is a summary of their reactions.

'Immoral' failure

"This collective failure to act at the scale and speed necessary to combat the climate crisis is irresponsible and immoral... We need major emitters -- particularly the G20 -- to respond to this worsening crisis with the urgency it demands... halving emissions by-2030" and net-zero by 2050."

- Walton Webson, chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)

Crisis funds

"Developed countries need to acknowledge that loss and damage is real and requires additional financing... When a hurricane hits we need to be able to start rebuilding within days."

- Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda

Clock ticking

"You can feel the scientists' frustration that mountains of evidence isn't yet driving the radical action needed... They are watching the clock tick down as governments and polluters continue to avoid making the bold changes... that are our only route out of catastrophic climate change."

- Teresa Anderson, poverty NGO ActionAid

Tipping point

"As we come ever closer to the tipping points for human existence, once again scientists are sounding a clear alarm: massive cuts in emissions are unavoidable to avert the worst."

- Namrata Chowdhary, climate NGO 350.org

Hit the brakes

"It's not about taking our foot off the accelerator anymore -- it's about slamming on the brakes... We need extraordinary cuts in the use of fossil fuels... and that entails a dramatic shift towards sustainable renewable energy."

- Nafkote Dabi, Oxfam

Tools are there

"The tools required to rapidly decarbonise the economy... are at our fingertips -- we just need our leaders to wield them."

- Ani Dasgupta, World Resources Institute

G20 must act

"We are looking to the G20, to the world's biggest emitters, to set ambitious targets ahead of COP27 (summit in November), and to reach those targets by investing in renewables, cutting out coal and fossil fuel subsidies. "

- Tina Stege, Marshall Islands climate envoy

EU: 'We must turn around'

"Today's report tells us we have to turn around, and quickly."

- Frans Timmermans, Vice-President European Commission

Game over, fossil fuels

"It's game over for fossil fuels that are fuelling both wars and climate chaos. There's no room for any new fossil fuel developments and the coal and gas plants we already have need to close early."

- Kaisa Kosonen, Greenpeace Nordic

Hard decisions

"We as governments have the obligation to take the difficult and challenging decisions to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement."

- Annika Strandhall, Swedish climate minister

Every moment counts

"Climate change is moving faster than we are... Every moment, every policy, every investment, every decision matters to avoid further climate chaos."

- Stephen Cornelius, WWF

US responsibility

"Richer nations, including the United States, bear significant responsibility to both cut emissions and provide funding to help developing countries."

- Rachel Cleetus,  Union of Concerned Scientists

Russian lesson

"Like (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's fossil-fuelled invasion and the profit-driven energy crisis it engendered, the (UN) panel's findings only reinforce that breaking free from fossil fuel dependency is critical for the global climate, peace and economic stability." 

- Nikki Reisch, Center for International Environmental Law

Fossil-fuelled dictatorships

"The money that we begged not to invest in dirty energy is now flying over our heads in the form of bombs... I want us to be a part of building a more just and greener world which prevents fossil-fuelled dictatorships from getting this much power."

 - Olha Boiko, Climate Action Network coordinator, Ukraine

Change diet

"Solar and wind power as well as energy efficiency have the largest economic potentials to cut carbon pollution... This must be accompanied by the protection of pristine forests and restoration of degraded ecosystems and a shift to plant-based low-carbon diets."

- Stephan Singer, Senior Advisor, Climate Action Network International

'Invest in our survival'

"Decisive action on climate is not a 'cost': it is an investment, not just in our future, but in our survival."

- Steve Trent, Environmental Justice Foundation

Heed science, not oil firms

"Governments must stop listening to fossil fuel corporations and start heeding the science and the urgent pleas for action from communities facing droughts, fires, floods and rising seas."

- Kelly Trout, Oil Change International

Human dignity

"All those who value human dignity and wellbeing must fully throw their weight behind the call for global climate justice."

- Ashfaq Khalfan, Amnesty International

Criminal justice

Those "profiting off the lives and livelihoods of our island women, youth, and indigenous peoples will soon face criminal prosecution. We must bring climate change to the International Court of Justice."

- Lavetanalagi Seru, Pacific Islands Climate Action Network

Spending must explode

"To meet the scale of this challenge we would need to see climate finance flows increase between four and eight times by 2030."

- Madeleine Diouf Sarr, chair of the Least Developed Countries group

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)