Climate summit: all countries to declare a climate emergency

 Net zero carbon emissions by 2050 - World leaders pledged 

United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres called countries to act

 All countries to declare a climate emergency or face "catastrophic" results, called the UN secretary general 

Dozens of world leaders spoke at the virtual Climate Ambition Summit on Saturday - from the smallest nation's worst-hit by climate change to the world's worst polluters.

"stop the assault" on the planet and increase their ambition on cutting the greenhouse gases that drive climate change, Nations at the UN summit were urged .

United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres warned leaders the world was heading for a "catastrophic" 3C of warming, as he urged them to declare a state of climate emergency in their countries until they become carbon neutral.

Just 38 countries have done so already.

The online summit was set up to keep pressure on countries to make ambitious carbon reduction plans, after last month's United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) climate talks were postponed a year due to the pandemic.

It is exactly five years since the Paris Agreement, when signatories pledged to try to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

Scientists widely agree any warming above this guardrail will have increasingly drastic effects.

Many countries set out plans to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 during the talks, as well as ratcheting up short-term goals to drastically reduce greenhouse gasses in the next decade.

 "We're doing this not because we are hair-shirt wearing, tree-hugging, mung bean-munching eco freaks - though I've got nothing against any of those categories - mung beans are probably delicious,said Boris Johnson, 

"We're doing it because we know that scientific advances will allow us collectively as humanity to save our planet and create millions of high skilled jobs as we recover from COVID."

Britain has already said it will reduce its emissions by 68% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.

Promises made at the summit include new targets on renewables by China and India.

President Xi Jinping pledged to more than double China's existing wind and solar capacity. He's already said China will be net zero by 2060.

Pakistan said it would end construction of new coal power plants and Canada announced an increase in carbon tax.

Barbados and the Maldives pledged to be net zero within 10 years.

The Pope pledged that Vatican City - the world's smallest state - would be net zero by 2050.

He said: "The current pandemic and climate change affect, above all, the lives of the poorest and most fragile.

"In addition to adopting some measures that cannot be postponed any longer, a strategy is needed to reduce net emissions to zero."

The commitments made in Paris are due to be updated by the end of this year with new NDCs - or nationally determined contributions.

Saturday's virtual summit was designed to encourage others not taking part to step up and start to build momentum in the 12-month countdown to next year's COP26 summit.