UN secretary-general says world is ‘on highway to climate hell’ without urgent action to cut emissions

UN Secretary-General António Guterres told countries gathered at the start of the COP27 summit in Egypt on Monday that they face tough choices. Either work together now to reduce emissions or blame future generations for climate catastrophe.

Despite the distractions of Russia’s war in Ukraine, rampant consumer inflation and energy shortages, the speech came as governments held two weeks of talks on how to avoid the worst of climate change. It set the tone of urgency.

“Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish,” Guterres told delegations gathered in the seaside resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

He is one of the richest people in the world to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and accelerate financing to help poor countries cut emissions and deal with the effects of warming that are already happening. He called for agreements between the poorest and poorest countries.

“The two largest economies, the United States and China, have a special responsibility to participate in efforts to bring this agreement to fruition,” he said.

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Mr. Guterres called on countries to agree to phase out coal, one of the world’s most carbon-intensive fuels, by 2040, and members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development will agree to do so by 2030. We achieved that goal by the end of the year.

Despite decades of climate negotiations (Egypt’s COP at the 27th Conference of the Parties), progress has been slow to save the planet from excessive warming, as countries have acted too slowly or reluctantly. is insufficient, he pointed out.

“Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, the global temperature continues to rise, and our planet is rapidly approaching a tipping point of irreversible climate disruption.” He said. “We’re driving down the highway to climate hell with our feet on the accelerator.”

The World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations meteorological agency, said in its annual Climate Report that sea level rise over the past decade was twice what it was in the 1990s and has been rising at a faster rate since January 2020. said. Since the beginning of the decade, sea level has risen by 5 mm per year, compared with 2.1 mm in the 1990s.

Meanwhile, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore addressed world leaders on Monday, criticizing the developed world’s pursuit of gas resources in Africa.

In his opening speech at the summit, Gore said, “We have credibility issues. We’re starting to talk and take action, but we’re not doing enough.” We need to understand what the so-called “dash for gas” really is. Let the nations of the world face climate chaos, stranding billions of assets and crossing bridges to nowhere, especially here in Africa.

“We must move beyond the era of fossil fuel colonialism.”

UAE to continue pumping oil, gas

Shortly after Guterres’ speech, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahya took the stage to announce that the United Arab Emirates, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, will cut fossil fuels as long as it needs to. He said he would continue to produce.

“The UAE is considered a responsible energy supplier and will continue to play this role as long as the world needs oil and gas,” he said.

The United Arab Emirates, which will host a UN conference next year, will try to finalize a deal in Britain last year and an agreement in Egypt this year.

Signatories to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement pledged to meet the long-term goal of keeping global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. Scientists have set this as an upper limit to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Guterres said that goal will only survive if the world can achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Read the latest World Meteorological Organization Global Climate Report:

The head of the International Monetary Fund told Reuters on the sidelines of the meeting that the climate goal hinges on achieving a global carbon price of at least $75 a tonne by the end of the decade, with the real economy The pace of change is still “too slow”.

Meanwhile, the World Trade Organization said in a report released on Monday that trade barriers in low-carbon industries should be addressed to address the role of global trade in driving climate change.