António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, began his speech this Wednesday at the climate mini-summit he organized at the United Nations headquarters in New York with a resounding metaphor. “Humanity has opened the doors to hell,” he said, highlighting the impact of climate change after the hottest summer ever recorded on the North Sea coast and the aftermath of massive fires in North America and violent storms in the Mediterranean, which some studies have already linked became global warming.
“The terrible heat is having a terrible impact,” Guterres recalled, referring to “distressed farmers” whose crops are being washed away by floods, diseases linked to high temperatures and “historic fires.” “Climate protection is dwarfed by the scale of the challenge,” the UN chief warned.
All of these impacts are occurring on a planet that is about 1.2 degrees Celsius warmer than in the pre-industrial era. And although countries around the world have promised plans to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (which are responsible for this crisis), the sum of all efforts is not enough and will result in 2.8 degrees of warming this century. That is, “towards a dangerous and unstable world,” declared the Secretary General of the United Nations.
Guterres not only lamented governments’ lack of ambition – “I’m not sure all leaders are feeling the heat,” he said on Tuesday at the opening of the UN General Assembly sessions – he also pointed to big companies. He criticized the “dark promises” of some companies that claim to be committed to climate change. He recalled that some companies have “shamefully even tried to block the transition” to a zero-emissions world. These societies have used their money and influence “to delay, distract and deceive.”
At the end of last year, Guterres convened this climate mini-summit on the occasion of the UN General Assembly, which takes place in New York every September. The aim is to promote nations’ climate plans. 34 international leaders are expected to attend, including the leaders of Germany, France, Canada, Colombia, as well as Chile and Spain. Missing from the list are representatives of the world’s two most polluting countries, the United States and China, although John Kerry, the climate czar in President Joe Biden’s administration, is scheduled to attend the forum.
Renewable and fossil fuels
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No commitment is expected from this meeting in New York that would mean a change in direction in the trajectory of global emissions, which are still not falling at the dramatic rate needed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees, the safest Limit that science knows theorem. It is planned that this Wednesday’s meeting in New York could provide impetus for the annual climate summit in December in Dubai, COP28, which will bring together representatives of the almost 200 countries involved in negotiations on global warming.
The event in Dubai will see the first official assessment of the development of the Paris Agreement signed in the French capital in 2015. Although it is already known that humanity is currently not on track to comply with this treaty, the evolution of greenhouse gas emissions will lead to a warming of about 2.8 degrees, as Guterres recalled this Wednesday. “We can still limit the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees,” he also said.
However, to correct the trend, it is essential to decouple the global economy from fossil fuels. “The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is happening, but we are decades behind schedule,” he added. “We have to make up for lost time.”
Guterres has called on major emitting countries “that have benefited the most from fossil fuels” to make additional efforts to reduce their greenhouse gases. “And to the rich countries to support the emerging countries in this,” he added. Specifically, Guterres recalled that it is necessary for OECD member countries to abandon the use of coal (the worst fossil fuel) in 2030 and for the rest of the nations in 2040. In 2022 alone, the International Monetary Fund will reach seven trillion Dollars estimated (about 6.5 trillion euros, which is 7.1% of global GDP).
The UN Secretary-General has also called on countries to set “ambitious renewable energy targets”. At the last G-20 meeting, countries agreed to triple the use of renewable energy by 2030. And the Dubai summit hopes to give this goal a boost. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, pointed this out in her speech at the summit organized by Guterres, stressing that the EU is committed to the goal of tripling renewable energy by 2030 and is pushing this forward as a global goal.
“Angry” countries
Guterres also called for “climate justice” this Wednesday. He pointed to the right that many poor nations should be “angry” because they are “suffering more from a climate crisis” for which they are not responsible. Also because the promised financial help has not materialized and they are suffering from high levels of debt.
The last climate summit, held in late 2022 in the Egyptian city of Sharm el Sheikh, ended with a commitment to establish a fund for the most vulnerable nations to help them cope with the losses and damage that climate is causing and will cause. Climate change. Guterres called this Wednesday for this fund to be put into effect at COP28 (something that will form part of the toughest negotiations at the Dubai summit). In addition, the Secretary General recalled that industrialized countries have committed to mobilize $100 billion (around €93.4 billion) annually in climate finance for developing countries. Although the commitment was for 2020, this amount has not yet been reached. Guterres has also asked that all countries do this “covered” by early warning systems by 2027, which is essential to avoid tragedies like the one in Libya.
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