"[4] The goal of the summit was to further climate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the mean global temperature from rising by more than 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) above preindustrial levels.
[5] To increase pressure on political and economic actors to achieve the aims of the summit, a global climate strike was held around the world on 20 September with over four million participants.
[6] The results of the summit were significant though it is believed that they were not enough to limit the rise of global temperature to less than 1.5 degrees as needed to address the climate crisis.
[7] However, important commitments were made in many areas and the organizers declared that: "Summit initiatives were designed to ensure the actions undertaken would be fair for all, supporting jobs and clear air for better health, and protect the most vulnerable, as well as new initiatives on adaptation, agriculture and early warning systems that will protect 500 million additional people against the impacts of climate change.
António Guterres, the Secretary General of the UN, said at the close of the summit: "Much more is needed to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and keep temperature rise to 1.5 degrees by the end of the century.
[34] Speaking on 23 September, Thunberg opened her statement to the General Assembly with an impassioned and emotional commentary which was widely covered by the media.
"[36]At her appearance, Thunberg announced that she and 15 other children including Alexandria Villaseñor, Catarina Lorenzo, and Carl Smith were filing a lawsuit against five nations that are not on track to meet the emission reduction targets they committed to in their Paris Agreement pledges: Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, and Turkey.
[37][38] Following her appearance, US President Donald Trump, who had attended the meeting for 10 minutes and then left, tweeted a video of her opening remarks in which she is obviously emotionally distressed and commented, "She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future.