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Antonio Guterres says that recovery from the coronavirus pandemic could be humanity’s chance for a reboot to save the planet.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has denounced a “suicidal” failure to address climate change and said that recovery from the coronavirus pandemic could be humanity’s chance for a reboot to save the Earth.
His comments on Wednesday came as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its 2020 interim report on the state of the global climate that this year is on track to be one of the three warmest ever recorded.
“The state of the planet is broken. Humanity is waging a war against nature. This is suicidal, ”Guterres said in a speech at Columbia University in New York City.
“Next year we have a chance to stop the looting and start to heal,” he added. “Recovery from COVID and repairing our planet must be two sides of the same coin.”
Guterres called for a reduction in the use of fossil fuels and said a summit planned on December 12 for the fifth anniversary of the Paris climate change agreement should chart a new way forward.
“A new world is taking shape,” he said.
“Biodiversity is collapsing. One million species are in danger of extinction. Ecosystems are disappearing before our eyes. Deserts are spreading. Wetlands are being lost. Every year we lose 10 million hectares of forests.
“The oceans are overexploited and suffocated with plastic waste. The carbon dioxide they absorb is acidifying the seas. Coral reefs bleach and die. Air and water pollution is killing nine million people a year. “
As such, “making peace with nature” must be “the highest, highest priority” of the 21st century, he warned, adding: “There is no vaccine for the planet.”
Welcoming the first commitments towards carbon neutrality from China, the European Union, Japan and South Korea, Guterres expressed his hope that the movement will go global.
“All countries, cities, financial institutions and companies must adopt plans to make the transition to net zero emissions by 2050,” he said.
One of the three hottest years
Separately, on Wednesday, the WMO said in a report that 2020 is on track to be one of the three warmest years ever recorded, and could even surpass the record set in 2016.
So the last six years, 2015 to 2020, will constitute the six hottest years since modern records began in 1850, the UN agency said.
“The average global temperature in 2020 is set at approximately 1.2 [degrees Celsius] above the pre-industrial level, ”said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
“There is at least a one in five chance that it will temporarily exceed 1.5 ° C by 2024.”
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