Humanity must “cooperate or perish” in the face of accelerating climate change impacts, UN chief Antonio Guterres has told world leaders at talks in Egypt tasked with curbing global warming.
In the midst of a barrage of international crises that have battered economies and shaken international relations, Mr Guterres said humanity faces a stark choice.
“Cooperate or perish,” he said. “It is either a climate solidarity pact, or a collective suicide pact.”
Nearly 100 heads of state and government will speak at the Cop27 summit today and tomorrow, but China’s President Xi Jinping is not attending the conference and US President Joe Biden will come later this week following Tuesday’s US midterm elections.
The summit comes as nations worldwide are facing increasingly intense natural disasters that have taken thousands of lives this year alone and cost billions of dollars.
Mr Guterres said many of today’s conflicts were linked with growing climate chaos, pointing to the war in Ukraine as exposing the “profound risks of our fossil fuel addiction”.
“Today’s crises cannot be an excuse for backsliding or greenwashing. If anything, they are a reason for greater urgency, stronger action and effective accountability,” he said.
He called on G20 countries to accelerate the transition to net zero emissions in this decade, telling developed countries they must take the lead, but emerging economies were also critical to bending the emissions curve.
Mr Guterres called for a pact between developed and developing countries, in which all nations make an extra effort to reduce emissions, richer countries provide financial assistance to help emerging economies speed their own renewable transition, and to end dependence on fossil fuels.
The United States and China had a particular responsibility to join efforts to make the pact a reality, he said.
Mr Guterres said: “Humanity has a choice: co-operate or perish. It is either a climate solidarity pact – or a collective suicide pact.”
He has also called for a roadmap to double support to help poorer countries adapt to climate change.
“At the same time, we must acknowledge a harsh truth: there is no adapting to a growing number of catastrophic events causing enormous suffering around the world,” Mr Guterres added.
“The deadly impacts of climate change are here and now. Loss and damage can no longer be swept under the rug. It is a moral imperative.
“Those who contributed least to the climate crisis are reaping the whirlwind sown by others. Many are blindsided by impacts for which they had no warning or means of preparation.”
He called for universal early warning system coverage within five years, governments to tax the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies and concrete results at Cop27 on addressing loss and damage suffered by poorer countries.
Emmanuel Macron speaking during a discussion with younger people on the sidelines of the summit
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron has urged the United States, China and other non-European rich nations ahead of COP27 talks to pay their fair share to help poorer countries deal with climate change.
“We need the United States and China to step up” on emissions cuts and financial aid, Mr Macron told French and African climate campaigners on the sidelines of the UN climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
“Europeans are paying,” he said. “We are the only ones paying.”
“Pressure must be put on rich non-European countries, telling them, ‘you have to pay your fair share’,” he said.
Stepping up financial aid to poorer countries that face the brunt of climate-induced disasters has emerged as a major issue at the 13-day climate conference that began yesterday.
The heads of developing nations won a small victory when delegates agreed to put the controversial issue of money for “loss and damage” on the agenda.
COP27 is scheduled to continue until 18 November with ministerial meetings
At the opening ceremony, COP27 officials urged governments to keep up efforts to combat climate change despite the economic crises linked to Russia’s war on Ukraine, an energy crunch, soaring inflation and the persistent Covid-19 pandemic.
“The fear is other priorities take precedence,” top United Nations climate change official Simon Stiell told a news conference.
The “fear is that we lose another day, another week, another month, another year – because we can’t”, he said.
The world must slash greenhouse emissions 45% by 2030 to cap global warming at 1.5C above late-19th-century levels.
But current trends would see carbon pollution increase 10% by the end of the decade and Earth’s surface heat up 2.8C, according to findings unveiled in recent days.
Only 29 of 194 countries have presented improved climate plans, as called for at the UN talks in Glasgow last year, Mr Stiell noted.
