The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres has said that the world is “looking into the eye of a Category 5 cyclone.”
Guterres stated this while addressing political and corporate leaders in Davos on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.
The UN secretary general gave an assessment of what he dubbed the “sad status of our world” from the main stage at the Planet Economic Forum in the Swiss resort town.
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In his words, “Our planet is being afflicted by a perfect storm on a number of fronts,” such as the impending global recession, the conflict in Ukraine, widening disparities, a crisis of rising living costs, high debt levels “pressing” weaker countries, and the pandemic’s residual effects.
Guterres noted that the world is losing the fight against global warming as “a new climate nightmare” is discovered every week.
He asserted that the target of limiting the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius beyond pre-industrial levels was “blowing up in smoke” and that an increase of 2.8 degrees was on the horizon.
In his remarks, the Executive Director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, Alex Rafalowicz said, “We have to halt the lies of large oil, gas, and coal firms and start collaborative action on phasing them out. As a result of the influence of fossil fuel lobbyists who are obstructing progress in favour of profit, government response to date has been fragmented and excruciatingly sluggish.
“Without international collaboration to openly address all fossil fuels and related industry head-on, we cannot accomplish the goals of the Paris Agreement. A Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is already being demanded by nation-states, legislators, Nobel Laureates, and sub-national governments, can close a glaring gap.”
Story was adapted from NatureNews.
