UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. (Photo: baotintuc.vn)

Guterres said destructive climate change is moving at an increasingly fast pace, adding that it is progressing even faster than the world’s top scientists have predicted.

The UN chief held out hope that the Paris Agreement could cut harmful emissions and reduce global warming. But, he noted, if the promises of Paris are fully met, the Earth still faces at least a three-degree temperature rise by the end of the century - a catastrophe for life.

The two-day Abu Dhabi Climate Meeting was to prepare for a Climate Action Summit in New York in September attended by government and civil society representatives from dozens of countries to select from 100 proposals for protecting the planet.