United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the world is ``at the verge of the abyss'' because of climate change and must take aggressive steps to avoid catastrophe. Speaking at a global virtual summit on climate change Thursday, Guterres called for world leaders to build a global coalition for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 _ ``every country, every region, every city, every company and every industry.? Guterres says the next decade must be one of transformation, with major polluters such as the United States and other advanced countries submitting detailed, ambitious plans to slow climate change. Guterres says countries around the world must put a price on carbon, end subsidies for fossil fuels, ramp up investments in renewable energy and green infrastructure and stop the financing of coal and the building of new coal power plants. He calls for advanced countries to phase out coal by 2030, with other countries phasing it out by 2040.
