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1.5 C goal on life support: UN chief
Guterres says world sleepwalking to climate catastrophe
Published: Mar 22, 2022 04:34 PM
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva via video message on February 28, 2022. Photo: AFP

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva via video message on February 28, 2022. Photo: AFP

UN chief Antonio Guterres said Monday the world is "sleepwalking to climate catastrophe," with major economies allowing carbon pollution to increase when drastic cuts are needed.

The planet-saving goal of capping global warming at 1.5 C is already "on life support," he told a sustainability conference in London. 

Keeping 1.5 C in play requires a 45 percent drop in emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by mid-century, according to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

But even if nations honor newly revised pledges under the Paris Agreement, emissions are still set to rise 14 percent before the decade ends.

"The problem is getting worse," Guterres said in a pre-recorded video message. "We are sleepwalking to climate catastrophe."

"If we continue with more of the same, we can kiss 1.5 C goodbye," he added. 

"Even 2 degrees may be out of reach."

His comments came only hours before the 195-nation IPCC kicks off a two-week meeting to validate a landmark report on options for reducing carbon pollution and extracting carbon dioxide from the air. 

The report is expected to conclude that carbon dioxide emissions must peak within a few years if the Paris temperature targets are to be met.

Guterres described COVID-19 recovery spending as "scandalously uneven" and a missed opportunity to accelerate the turn toward clean energy. 

The Russia-Ukraine conflict, he added, could further derail climate action with importers locking in fossil fuel dependence as they scramble to replace Russian oil and gas.

"Countries could become so consumed by the immediate fossil fuel supply gap that they neglect or knee-cap [climate] policies," Guterres said.

"This is madness. Addiction to fossil fuels is mutually assured destruction."

A bombshell report in 2021 from the intergovernmental International Energy Agency concluded that a 1.5 C world was incompatible with any new oil or gas developments, or new coal-fired power plants.

Breaking with the usual practice of not singling out countries, Guterres called out Australia and a "handful of holdouts" for failing to lay out "meaningful" near-term plans to slash emissions.

Rich nations should provide money, technology and knowhow to help these emerging economies purge coal from their energy portfolios, he added, pointing to a pathbreaking deal for South Africa unveiled at the COP26 climate summit held in November 2021 in Glasgow.

"Our planet can't afford a climate blame game," he cautioned. 

"We can't point fingers while the planet burns."

Wealthy nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development must phase out coal by 2030, and all other countries by 2040, Guterres said.

AFP