Hoping to spur international action on climate change, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told world leaders that only the most ambitious carbon-cutting countries will be showcased at a key summit in September.

In a note sent to member states, Guterres outlined plans for an "action-oriented" summit featuring a wide range of "deliverables" from governments to inject new impetus to the fight against global warming.

"It will be a summit of showcasing ambitious proposals for climate action and implementation," said the four-page document sent to UN member-states and seen by AFP on Tuesday.

The September 23 summit at the United Nations is billed as the first major stock-taking gathering of world leaders on climate change since the Paris agreement was reached in 2015.

The event follows a string of reports containing dire predictions about the future of the planet as carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, pushing targets set out under the Paris accord further out of reach.

President Donald Trump's 2017 decision to pull the United States out of the Paris accord will also cast a cloud over the summit that will be held on the sidelines of the General Assembly meeting in New York.

In the document, Guterres asked countries to present "concrete, realistic plans" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent over the next decade and to net zero by 2050.

- Picking the best -

Setting up a selection process similar to a contest, the United Nations will convene a meeting in Abu Dhabi on June 30-July 1 to pick the most ambitious proposals to take center stage at the summit.

To make the cut, countries will have to come up with plans that have a "transformational impact" that breaks new ground or aims at "dramatically scaling up an existing initiative."

The chosen proposals will be innovative, inclusive and have the ability to be replicated across sectors or regions, said the document sent to member-states last week.

Countries chosen to be in the summit spotlight will earn recognition as leaders on climate change and arguably a bigger say in crafting the world's response to what the United Nations has called the defining issue of our time, UN officials say.

Guterres has made clear the world has fallen behind on its commitment in the Paris agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by capping the rise in Earth's temperature at "well under" two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

"Let's be clear, we are not winning the race," Guterres told reporters as he discussed the damage from Cyclone Idai in southern Africa.

"At the present level, things will get worse and worse. We need to reverse this trend."

Countries will need "to substantially increase the commitments made in their national determined contributions" that were submitted to fight greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris accord, he said.

Germany records hottest year in a century
Berlin (AFP) March 26, 2019 - Germany recorded its warmest year in 2018, a period also marked by a drought lasting months, the country's DWD weather service said Tuesday.

The average temperatures for the year reached 10.5 degree Celsius (50.9 degrees Fahrenheit), a new record high, the DWD said in a statement.

"It was the warmest year in the 138-year temperature records of the national weather service," the service said.

The number of days when temperatures reached 30 degrees and above also hit a record 20, a day more than in 2003.

The number of summer days -- defined as when temperatures are 25 degrees and above -- also reached a record 74, 12 more than in 2003.

"Such a hot summer is linked to heightened pressures and therefore health hazards for sensitive people," the DWD's climate scientist Thomas Deutschlaender warned.

Months of scarce rainfall and hot sunny weather last year had wreaked havoc on crops.

Water traffic including on the Rhine was also crippled as water levels plunged, forcing ship operators to suspend services to keep vessels from running aground.

The extraordinary weather last year had been seized on by many climate activists to push Germany to hold fast to its pledge to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels.

But in its latest annual climate protection report published in June, the government admitted that it was now expecting to achieve 32 percent in reductions compared to 1990.

According to the UN, the last four years were the hottest since global temperature records began, calling it a "clear sign of continuing long-term climate change".

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Macron accuses EU summit of falling short on climate goals
Brussels (AFP) March 22, 2019
European Union leaders failed to do enough Friday to pursue a pledge to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 under the Paris climate agreement, French President Emmanuel Macron said. The leaders stressed the need for the EU to submit an "ambitious long-term strategy by 2020 striving for climate neutrality" in line with the 2015 Paris deal, which calls for zero net emissions by mid-century. But Macron pointed out the summit conclusions did not explicitly mention the 2050 target. ... read more