By Mary Milliken and Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said a critical meeting on climate change later this year in Scotland is at risk of failure due to mistrust between developed and developing countries and a lack of ambitious goals among some emerging economies.

The U.N. COP26 Conference in Glasgow aims at achieving ambitious climate actions and funding from global participants. Last month, scientists warned that the rate of global warming was dangerously fast approaching a point where it is uncontrollable.

Guterres said Wednesday that COP26 is at high risk. He spoke to Reuters at the U.N. Headquarters in New York. It is important to overcome mistrust among the north, south, developing and developed countries.

We’re at the end of the world. You need to take care of what next. He said that the next step was COP26 in Glasgow.

Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister and Guterres will host Monday’s meeting of global leaders at the U.N. General Assembly annual high-level weekly. This is to increase the chance of success for the conference on climate change. It takes place from October 31 through November 12.

Guterres stated that Monday’s meeting was being held to foster trust and to help everyone understand the need for greater action.

The developed nations must do more to support developing countries. We need to push some emerging countries further and make more progress in reducing our air emissions,” he stated.

The meeting on Monday, both online and in-person will be closed so that “frank and open conversations” can be held about the success of Glasgow. A senior U.N. official said this under condition anonymity.

U.S., CHINA NEED TO ‘DO THEIR PART’

The world remains behind in its battle to cut carbon emissions and the pace of climate change has not been slowed by the global COVID-19 pandemic , the World Meteorological Organization said on Thursday.

Last month, scientists said that the global average temperature will reach or exceed the 1.5 degree Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), warming threshold in 20 years if there is not enough action.

Guterres stated that he has not witnessed enough support from developed countries for developing countries, and to provide a significant share to adaptation needs.

As a result, developing countries are more vulnerable to climate disruptions and less resourced. They have struggled for years to obtain the money to prepare them for disruptions to climate. In 2009, rich countries pledged to increase their annual contribution to 100 billion dollars.

The funds that have been transferred to them so far have been focused more on mitigation than adaptation. Only 21% of $78.9B in climate finance was used by wealthy countries in 2018 to adapt, according to OECD data.

Guterres responded to a question about whether carbon capture technology companies should issue patent waivers to allow them to share their advances. Guterres stated that any development in this area must be considered a public good that should be available to all nations.

However, he said that “we haven’t yet seen results to confirm these technologies will be key elements in solving the problem.”

Guterres minimized the effect that China’s growing hostilities with the United States — the largest global emitters and consumers of greenhouse gases – will have on the United States’ cooperation on climate change.

Guterres stated, “They’re a multilateral problem.” “So I appeal to China as well as the United States for their help.”