UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged world leaders to take immediate steps to cut emissions, safeguard people from climate chaos, and “tear down the walls to climate finance” in response to the climate crisis.
Guterres made call in his opening remarks at the World Leaders Climate Action Summit, the ministerial-level segment of COP29, which officially opened on Tuesday in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The UN chief urged world leaders to take steps to cut emissions in response to the “masterclass in climate destruction” that the world witnessed in 2024.
Guterres pointed to the proof when he noted that 2024 is almost certain to be the hottest year ever recorded.
“The sound you hear is the ticking clock. We are in the final countdown to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. And time is not on our side,” he warned.
Meanwhile, “no country is spared” from climate destruction ranging from hurricanes to boiling seas, drought ravaged crops, and more, all being supercharged by human-made climate change.
In the global economy, supply chain shocks raise costs – everywhere: Decimated harvests push up global food prices; destroyed homes increase all insurance premiums.
“This is a story of avoidable injustice: The rich cause the problem, the poor pay the highest price,” the UN chief said, noting that Oxfam has found that the richest billionaires emit more carbon in an hour and a half than the average person does in a lifetime.
“Unless emissions plummet and adaptation soars,” he emphasised that “every economy will face far greater fury.”
But there is every reason to hope, the secretary-general continued, pointing to the solid steps that had been taken last year at COP28 in the United Arab Emirates.
In the UAE, all countries had agreed to move away from fossil fuels; to accelerate net zero energy systems, setting milestones to get there; to boost climate adaptation; and to align the next round of economy-wide national climate plans – or NDCs – with the 1.5-degree limit set at Paris.
“It’s time to deliver,” he said stressing that a poll by the University of Oxford and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had found that eighty per cent of people around the world want more climate action.
In addition, “scientists, activists, and young people are demanding change – they must be heard, not silenced.”
The UN chief went on to note that last year – for the first time – the amount invested in grids and renewables overtook the amount spent on fossil fuels and today, almost everywhere, solar and wind are the cheapest source of new electricity.
“Doubling down on fossil fuels is absurd. The clean energy revolution is here. No group, no business, and no government can stop it.
“But you can and must ensure it is fair, and fast enough to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” he explained.
With all this in mind, Guterres said, “developing countries must not leave Baku empty-handed” and urged world leaders at COP29 to focus on three areas for immediate action:
“Make emergency emissions reductions – cutting emissions by nine per cent every year towards 43 per cent of 2019 levels by 2030.
“This is the clearest pat to limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“Do more to protect people from the ravages of the climate crisis.
“The gap between adaptation needs and finance could reach up to 359 billion dollars year by 2030.
“The missing dollars are not abstractions on a balance sheet. They are lives taken, harvests lost, and development denied.”
In addition, he urged the leaders to tear down the walls to climate finance by agreeing on a new finance goal that contains a significant increase in concessional public finance and a clear indication of how public finance will mobilise the trillions of dollars developing countries need.
He also urged them to tap innovative sources; set out a framework for greater accessibility, transparency, and accountability; and boost lending capacity for bigger and bolder multilateral development banks.
“On climate finance, the world must pay up, or humanity will pay the price,” emphasised the UN chief, telling world leaders that “you and your governments must be guided by a clear truth: Climate finance is not charity, it’s an investment; climate action is not optional, it’s imperative.”
There was progress late on Monday at COP29 when parties adopted strong new standards for a centralised carbon market under the auspices of the UN, a mechanism highlighted just last week by UN Trade and Development body UNCTAD.
UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said the agreement was “a good start” following 10 years of negotiations.
“When operational, these carbon markets will help countries implement their climate plans faster and cheaper, driving down emissions,” he said.
Stiell added that “we are a long way from halving emissions this decade, but wins on carbon markets here at COP29 will help us get back in that race.”
Addressing the leaders’ summit, Stiell echoed many of the same themes, warning that the climate crisis “is fast becoming an economy-killer”.
“Climate impacts are carving up to five per cent off GDP in many countries,” he said, adding that underscoring the climate crisis is a cost-of-living crisis because climate-driven disasters are driving up costs for households and businesses.
“Worsening climate impacts will put inflation on steroids unless every country can take bolder climate action,” Stiell, who is the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which convenes the annual COP meetings, said.
He urged the leaders to learn the lessons from the pandemic – when billions suffered because collective action wasn’t taken fast enough when supply chains were smashed.
“Let’s not make that mistake again. Climate finance is global inflation insurance. Rampant climate costs should be public enemy number one,” he stated.
He went on to stress that bolder climate action can drive economic opportunity and abundance everywhere.
Cheap and clean energy can be the bedrock of many economies because it means more jobs, more growth, less pollution choking cities, healthier citizens and stronger businesses.
“Billions of people simply cannot afford for their government to leave COP29 without a global climate finance goal,” Stiell said told leaders to make it clear that they expected a strong set of outcomes in Baku.
“Tell your negotiators – skip the posturing – and move directly to finding common ground. Bring those positions together.”
