We still have our foot on the accelerator: UN Secretary-General
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, has warned that the world is now on the highway to climate hell. The UN Secretary-General made this remark to the world leaders participating in Egypt’s ongoing climate conference (COP 27).
The conference started on November 07, 2022, in the city of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea coast of Egypt. The conference will continue till November 18, 2022. About 100 governments and heads of state are participating in the conference.
The conference calls for further reduction of Greenhouse gas emissions and financial assistance to developing countries already severely affected by rising temperatures.
Addressing the world leaders attending the conference, the UN Secretary-General said that humanity has two tough choices – to work together to fight global warming or ‘collective suicide’.
Antonio Guterres said the alternative before humankind is mutual cooperation or destruction.
The UN Secretary-General urged polluting rich nations to come forward to help developing countries least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. Either there must be a climate solidarity agreement, or there will be a collective suicide agreement.
Countries around the world are facing increasingly severe natural disasters. Thousands of people have died this year due to various disasters, including floods, droughts, and wildfires—hundreds of billions of dollars in damage.
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, President of Egypt, the conference’s host country, said, “We are seeing one disaster after another. As we deal with one disaster, another appears. Waves of suffering and loss are coming one after the other.’
Egypt’s president says, ‘Isn’t it time to end all this suffering?’ There are fears that the issue of climate change will fall off the list of governments’ priorities amid other crises.
These crises include the Russia-Ukraine conflict, rising inflation, and the long-term effects of the coronavirus pandemic.”
Antonio Guterres has called for a “historic” deal between wealthy emitters and emerging economies. The agreement would have firm commitments from countries to stop emissions.
If current trends continue, carbon pollution could increase by 10 percent by the end of this decade. The surface temperature may rise to 2.8 degrees Celsius.
Antonio Guterres further said, ”Greenhouse gas emissions are increasing. Global temperature is rising. The planet is fast approaching that critical stage, making climate chaos irreversible.
We are on the highway to climate hell. We still have our foot on the accelerator. Climate dialogue has been going on for decades.
Despite this, the UN Secretary-General noted that the progress made to save the planet from excessive warming is insufficient.”
The reason, he says, is that countries are moving too slowly or are unwilling to take action.
