Key emitters skip UN Climate Ambition Summit

Notable leaders from some of the world's largest polluting nations are conspicuously absent from the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit called by Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York on Wednesday to reinvigorate efforts to combat the climate crisis.

Guterres had called for countries to show up with commitments to stop oil and gas expansion and plan a phase out of existing production in line with the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit.

A list of 41 speakers put out by the UN for the morning session did not figure representatives from China, the US, the UK or Japan.

Prominent nations addressing the summit include Austria, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, the European Union, France, Germany, Pakistan, and South Africa.

When the UN chief announced the global event last December, he had said he expected ''a no-nonsense summit'', with no exceptions and no compromises.

''There will be no room for back-sliders, green washers, blame-shifters, or repackaging of announcements from previous years,'' he had said.

According to the UN, the summit is unique as it features only the ''first movers and doers'' - those leaders who have responded to the Secretary-General's call for accelerated action to tackle the climate crisis.

Guterres had earlier said that he will give mic to only those who will come with credible, ambitious actions, plans and policies to show.