U.N. chief Antonio Guterres exhorted major world economies on Wednesday to signal more ambitious commitments to cut greenhouse emissions as climate talks in Madrid hit an intense phase.

Axar.az reports citing Reuters.

“We need to have the big emitters understanding that their role is essential, because if the big emitters fail, everything will fail,” Guterres told Reuters in an interview.

“If we just go on as we are, we are doomed.”

He was speaking in a hangar-like conference center in Madrid where ministers from around the world are cloistered in the final days of two-week talks to shore up the 2015 Paris Agreement to avert catastrophic global warming.

Major polluting countries such as China, India and the United States - which is leaving the pact - are not expected to make big new announcements at the summit, where delegates are focused on technical negotiations over rules on carbon markets.

Nevertheless, Guterres hopes the talks will conclude on Friday with a strong signal that governments are ready to submit more ambitious climate plans in 2020, seen as a make-or-break year for the Paris process.

Under the deal, countries are supposed to submit more stringent targets to cut carbon emissions in the run-up to the next annual round of talks in Glasgow.