AUSTRALIAN AND ICELANDIC LEADERS ADDRESS CLIMATE CRISIS AT UN GATHERING

World leaders have gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, with some addressing the climate crisis at the city's accompanying Climate Week. Climate Week, which runs alongside the assembly, opened on Monday. Australia's prime minister, Anthony Albanese, delivered the opening keynote address, while Iceland's prime minister, Kristrún Frostadóttir, gave the closing remarks. Both leaders discussed the climate crisis's effects on their countries, moves away from fossil fuels, and support for other nations doing the same. Other leaders at the assembly focused instead on war and inflation.

Albanese said "global weather has always been treacherous", but scientific forecasts of more frequent, intense extreme weather as the world warms "have come to be". He pointed to Australia's support for Pacific nations facing the climate crisis. Frostadóttir said Iceland turned to geothermal energy after the global oil crisis of the early 1970s, when most homes burned imported oil for heat. Rising costs "hit" household budgets, she said, teaching Iceland "to depend on something you cannot control" and prompting the switch. Reykjavik built a large-scale geothermal heating system within years, and other towns followed within a decade, aided by "unwavering political support" and financial help for households.

This year's Climate Week follows months of extreme heat across Europe and the United States. Wildfires have struck parts of Africa and flash flooding has hit parts of Asia, alongside a record-breaking El Niño. Separately at the assembly, Türkiye's president said the United Nations had been rendered unable to fulfil its mission. The president said nations from Palestine to Sudan that had placed their hopes in the UN had been disappointed. Türkiye said it remained committed to restoring confidence in the organisation.