Scolded for doing little, leader after leader promised the United Nations on Monday to do more to prevent a warming world from reaching even more dangerous levels.
As they made their pledges at the Climate Action Summit, though, they and others conceded it was not enough. And even before they spoke, teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg shamed them over and over for their inaction: "How dare you?"
"Action by action, the tide is turning," he said. "But we have a long way to go."
"The world can still prevent the absolute worst effects of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing new technologies and sources of energy," Gates said. "But the effects of rising temperatures are already under way."
"I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you have come to us young people for hope. How dare you. You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words."
US President Donald Trump mocked Thunberg on Twitter, writing: "She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!"
"Where the 'ball' of actual accomplishments is, is another question." Of all the countries that came up short, World Resources Institute Vice President Helen Mountford said one stood out: the United States for "not coming to the table and engaging."
"What we've seen so far is not the kind of climate leadership we need from the major economies," Mountford said. She did say, however, that businesses, as well as small- and medium-sized countries had "exciting initiatives."