Ahead of the United Nations Climate Conference in Belem, Brazil, UN Secretary-General, António Guterres on Thursday said several nations are being starved of resources needed to adapt to climate change and transition to clean energy, and people are losing hope that their leaders will act.
Speaking at the opening of the General Plenary of Leaders in Brazil, Guterres said nations need to move faster, adding that COP30 must “ignite a decade of acceleration and delivery”.
“We have failed to ensure we remain below 1.5°C. Science now tells us that a temporary overshoot of the 1.5°C limit, starting at the latest in the early 2030s, is inevitable,” Guterres said. “We need a paradigm shift to limit the magnitude and duration of this overshoot and quickly drive it down. Even a temporary overshoot will have dramatic consequences. It could push ecosystems past tipping points, exposing billions to unliveable conditions and amplifying threats to peace and security.”
He said every fraction of a degree of warming means more hunger, displacement and loss, especially for those communities least responsible for the crisis.
“This is moral failure and deadly negligence,” he said.
Gutteres noted, “The newly submitted nationally determined contributions represent progress, but they still fall short of what is needed. Even if fully implemented, they would put us on a pathway well above 2°C of global warming. Meanwhile, the climate crisis is accelerating, record breaking wildfires, deadly floods, super storms, shattering lives, economies and decades of progress.”
Quoting World Meteorological Organization’s report, he said emissions reached another record high in 2024, and reiterated that the 1.5°C limit is a red line for humanity.
“I have consistently advocated against more coal plants or fossil fuel exploration and expansion. At COP 28 in Dubai, countries committed to transitioning away from fossil fuels. Now, we must turn that commitment into action,” he said.
He urged support for low- and middle-income countries that depend on fossil fuels, and stressed the need to dismantle structural barriers and provide the conditions for developing countries to deliver and exceed their NDC commitments.
Guterres also called for a clear path to reaching USD 1.3 trillion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2075, as agreed at COP 29 in Baku.
He said that there is no longer time for negotiations but implementation.
