Carbon polluters must pay up to address the accelerating climate crisis or humanity will pay the price, UN secretary general António Guterres told global leaders gathered at Cop29 in Baku.
In a condemnation of countries’ slow progress on climate action and slashing carbon emissions, Mr Guterres warned: “We are in the final countdown to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees – and time is not on our side.”
The 1.5-degree limit of global warming above pre-industrial times, a key Paris Agreement target, was set to avoid irreversible climate impacts across the planet.
“With the hottest day on record and the hottest months on record, this [year] is almost certain to be the hottest year on record. And a masterclass in climate destruction,” Mr Guterres added.
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He detailed current destruction across the planet: “Families running for their lives before the next hurricane strikes; biodiversity destroyed in sweltering seas; workers and pilgrims collapsing in insufferable heat; floods tearing through communities, and tearing down infrastructure; children going to bed hungry as droughts ravage crops.
“All these disasters, and more, are being supercharged by human-made climate change, and no country is spared,” Mr Guterres said.
This meant in the global economy, supply chain shocks were raising costs everywhere, he noted, while decimated harvest were pushing up food prices and destroyed homes were increasing insurance premiums.
“This is a story of avoidable injustice. The rich cause the problem, the poor pay the highest price. Oxfam finds 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, every economy will face far greater fury,” he said.
It was time for countries to deliver on Cop28 commitments 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 economywide national climate plans – or NDCs – with the 1.5 degree limit”.
Doubling down on fossil fuels was an absurd strategy, Mr Guterres said.
There was, however, every reason for hope, he told the leaders. “Humanity is behind you: a poll by the University of Oxford and the UN Development Programme finds 80 per cent of people around the world want more climate action. Scientists, activists, and young people are demanding change – they must be heard, not silenced.”
The economic imperative was clearer and more compelling – “with every renewables roll out, every innovation, and every price drop”, he said.
With solar and wind 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.”
He called for emergency emissions reductions by 9 per cent every year and agreement on rules “for fair, effective carbon markets that support that fight; markets that respect the rights of local communities, and leave no space for greenwashing or land-grabbing”.
By the next Cop, they are required to provide new plans to align with 1.5 degrees. “That means they must cover all emissions and the whole economy; advance global goals to triple renewables capacity, double energy efficiency, and halt deforestation by 2030; slash global fossil fuel production and consumption by 30 per cent by the same date.”
All countries must do their part, he said, with wealthy countries making up the G20 must lead. “They are the largest emitters, with the greatest capacities and responsibilities. They must bring their technological know-how together – with developed countries supporting emerging economies.”
More needed to be done to protect people from the ravages of the climate crisis, Mr Guterres said.
He added: “The gap between adaptation needs and finance could reach up to $359 billion a year by 2030. These missing dollars are not abstractions on a balance sheet: they are lives taken, harvests lost, and development denied. Now more than ever finance promises must be kept. Developed countries must race the clock to double adaptation finance to at least $40 billion a year by 2025.”
Adaptation investments to build climate resilience would transform economies, driving progress across sustainable development goals, he said.
But developing countries eager to act were facing many obstacles, facing “scant public finance; raging cost of capital; crushing climate disasters; and debt servicing that soaks up funds.
“Last year, developing and emerging markets outside China received just 15 cents for every dollar invested in clean energy globally. Cop29 must tear down the walls to climate finance,” he said.
The president of Azerbaijan opened the leaders’ summit in controversial circumstances, hailing oil and gas as “a gift from God” as he lambasted Western media and climate activists.
In a wide-ranging, critical speech president Ilham Aliyev hit out at those opposed to his country’s oil and gas industries.
In his keynote address at the UN talks, president Aliyev described his country as a victim of a “well-orchestrated campaign of slander and blackmail”.
“As a president of Cop29 of course, we will be a strong advocate for green transition, and we are doing it. But at the same time, we must be realistic,” he added.
Referencing gas and oil resources, he said: “Countries should not be blamed for having them, and should not be blamed for bringing these resources to the market, because the market needs them. The people need them.”
The Azerbaijan government relies on fossil fuels for 60 per cent of its budget and 90 per cent of exports.
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