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Added on the 07/12/2022 23:07:21 - Copyright : Euronews EN
Hundreds of people take to the streets in Montreal to oppose the COP15 UN Biodiversity Conference. IMAGES
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres slams multinational corporations for turning the world's ecosystems into "playthings of profit" and warns failure to change course would lead to catastrophic results."With our bottomless appetite for unchecked and unequal economic growth, humanity has become a weapon of mass extinction," he says, in a speech ahead of biodiversity talks in Montreal. SOUNDBITE
The heads of state and government of the 27 member countries of the European Union meet for an EU Council summit in Brussels, with Antonio Guterres attending in his capacity as Secretary General of the United Nations. While the bloc's response to the conflict in Ukraine is set to dominate the summit, EU leaders are also looking for a united stance on the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. IMAGES
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledges to find a way around Hungary's block on a 50 billion euro aid package for Ukraine at a summit early next year. "We will have an operational solution" she says, speaking after a crunch EU summit in Brussels where member states agreed to begin membership talks with Kyiv, despite opposition from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. SOUNDBITE
EU climate chief Wopke Hoekstra laments that it has taken "30 years" of UN climate talks for humanity to "arrive at the beginning of the end of fossil fuels," calling a first-ever call for the world to transition away from the top culprit of climate change behind a planetary crisis "long overdue." Following all-night negotiations, the draft deal proposed by the Emirati presidency of the COP28 summit in Dubai would, if adopted, mark the first time that all fossil fuels are addressed in the 28-year history of international climate conferences. SOUNDBITE
UN climate chief Simon Stiell accuses nations of "posturing" at the COP28 talks in Dubai and urged them to reach an ambitious deal to ensure the world meets its targets against global warming. Stiell called a brief press conference as countries were sharply divided over the fate of fossil fuels in a new draft agreement, with a week left for negotiators to reach a deal. SOUNDBITE