Select icon Ocean Life Family Hall at the American Museum of Natural History in New York to make a passionate call to seize the solutions at hand, António Guterres warned that we are facing a “moment of truth.”
“In the case of climate, we are not dinosaurs. We are shooting stars. We don’t just IN dangerous – us To be danger. But we are also the solution.”
Citing the latest report by the European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Change Service showing that last month was the hottest May on record, the UN chief said global emissions need to fall by 9% each year. year just to maintain a temperature increase limit of 1.5oC above pre-industrial levels.
Last year they were up 1%.
United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) But also reported on Wednesday that there is an 80% chance of a 1.5oC limit – the target set within Paris Agreement in 2015 – will be adopted in one of the next five years.
“We are playing Russian roulette with our planet”, Mr. Guterres said. “We need a way off the highway to climate hell. And the truth is – we have control of the wheel.”
The iconic blue whale looms over the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life at the American Museum of Natural History, where Secretary-General António Guterres gave a special speech on climate action.
18 months to save the world
He continues to retreat from the “still possible” brink, but only if we fight harder. It all depends on what political leaders decide this decade and “especially in the next 18 months.”
“The need for climate action is unprecedented, but so is the opportunity – not just to tackle the climate problem but also for economic prosperity and sustainable development,” Mr. Guterres explained.
Questions about qualifications
He said a half-degree difference in global warming could mean some island nations or coastal communities would disappear forever.
Scientists point out that the Greenland ice sheet and the West Antarctic ice sheet could collapse and cause catastrophic sea level rise. Entire coral reef systems could disappear along with 300 million livelihoods – if the 1.5oC target is not met.
The secretary general said extreme weather from East Asia to the West Coast of the United States has been enhanced by climate chaos “destroying lives, severely impacting economies and health”.
Fossil fuel mafia
While billions of people around the world see their lives becoming more expensive due to climate change, the “Godfathers of climate chaos – fossil fuel corporations –” reap the profits. record profits and a party of trillions of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies,” he exclaimed.
He said many in the oil and gas industry have engaged in “shameful greenwashing” while actively trying to delay climate action, aided and abetted by advertising and public relations firms.
Call for oil and gas ban
“I call on these companies to stop playing their role in the destruction of the planet. Stop taking on new fossil fuel customers starting today and make a plan to eliminate your existing customers”, said the Secretary General.
I call on these companies to stop playing their role as enablers of planetary destruction. Stop taking on new fossil fuel customers starting today and make a plan to eliminate your existing customers.
— António Guterres
Creative minds in the field are focused on saving the planet, not helping to destroy it, he added.
Mr. Guterres Call on every country in the world to ban advertising from fossil fuel companies.
Salvation is at hand
In addition to toxic corporations “We have what we need to save ourselves”, he assured the audience gathered just off New York’s Central Park.
Forests and oceans continue to absorb harmful carbon and must be protected. The worldwide renewable energy business is booming as costs plummet and now accounts for 30% of the world’s electricity supply.
Meanwhile, investment in clean energy hit a record high last year, nearly doubling over the past decade, the United Nations chief said.
“Economic logic makes the end of the fossil fuel age inevitable,” he added.
Action station
To ensure the safest possible future for humanity and the planet, he set out the urgent actions that need to be taken:
- Reduce emissions
- Protect people and nature from climate extremes
- Strengthening climate finance
- Tighten fossil fuel business activities
The heaviest burden of action must fall on the richest and highest-emitting countries: “Advanced G20 economies must go furthest, fastest” while also providing technical and financial support to developing countries.
Secretary-General calls for national climate action plans to adhere to the 1.5℃ limit and include absolute emissions reduction targets for 2030, 2035 and all global milestones within the decades next.
“Each country must step up and do its fair share…We need to cooperate, not blame”, Mr. Guterres declared.
On the climate justice front, he said it was a shame that the most vulnerable countries were being trapped by the impacts of a climate crisis they did nothing to create.
“We cannot accept a future where the rich are protected in air-conditioned bubbles while the rest of humanity is assaulted by deadly weather in uninhabitable lands. ”
Fairer climate finance and an end to the crippling debt and high interest rates suffered by many developing countries is not a matter of charity but a matter of “enlightened self-interest,” he added. ”.
Secretary-General António Guterres (right) with Michael R. Bloomberg (left), United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, and Sean M. Decatur, President of the American Museum of Natural History .
It’s all because of the climate
“Climate finance is not a favor. It is a fundamental element for a livable future for everyone,” he said.
People around the world are “far ahead of politicians. Make your voice heard and your choices count,” he pleaded.
No country or organization can solve the climate crisis on its own. “This is an all-encompassing moment. The United Nations is doing its best to build trust, find solutions and inspire the cooperation our world so desperately needs,” said the Secretary-General.
He thanked climate activists from all walks of life who have pushed for action so far: “You are on the right side of history. You speak for the majority. Keep it up; Don’t lose courage, don’t lose hope.”
He said now”We are the people fighting against polluters and profiteers” and united together “we can win.”
“Now is the time to mobilize, now is the time to act, now is the time to deliver. This is the moment of truth.”
