U.N Secretary-General, António Guterres has restated that countries must re-prioritise climate change or be ready to face catastrophe.
Guterres who was speaking in New York ahead of a major climate conference in Egypt said that there has been a tendency to put climate change on the back burner and that “If we are not able to reverse the present trend, we will be doomed.”
The climate change summit, COP27 is expected to bring countries together to discuss tackling climate change.
In a chat with the BBC’s climate editor Justin Rowlatt, the UN boss said that current global problems such as inflation, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the high prices of energy and food were distracting governments.
“Bring back climate change to the centre of the international debate,” he said, insisting that leaders should not abandon key goals, including keeping global temperature rise to 1.5C, to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
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Speaking further, he said he would like to see both King Charles III and new UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attending COP27, adding that King Charles has been a “constant voice” calling attention to the problem of climate change.
Guterres called on the US and China to work together at the conference, saying the world relies on their leadership. In August, China said it was ending cooperation with the US on climate change after a leading US politician visited Taiwan.
“This is the defining issue of our time, nobody has the right to sacrifice international action on climate change for any reason,” he warned. “We need to tell the truth. The truth is that the impact of climate change on several countries in the world, especially hotspots, is already devastating,”.
He also maintained that governments must deliver the $100billion of finance promised to develop countries facing the harshest impacts of climate change, suggesting that a windfall tax on fossil fuel energy profits could help to find the remaining money.
He further called on countries not to invest in more fossil fuels, rather they should instead support renewable energy as according to him, “the most stupid thing is to bet on what has led us to this disaster,”.
Story was adapted from BBC.
