UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses a special event to mark World Children's Day at the United Nations headquarters in New York, on Nov. 20, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday lauded China's role in the global fight against climate change and encouraged the country to remain instrumental in an enhanced global ambition in this regard.
"We welcome the strong commitment of China to climate action. China is of course crucial given the dimensions of its economy," Guterres told reporters.
He noted that the commitments made in the Paris Agreement on climate change are not necessarily being fully met and that those commitments themselves are not enough to limit global temperature rise in this century below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, or even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
"We are not winning this race, climate change is still winning this race," he warned.
"China's role in this enhanced ambition is absolutely crucial and I count a lot on the dialogue and cooperation that was established with the Chinese government in this regard."
