UN chief: World facing ‘dead end’ over climate, COVID-19

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, Sept 21, 2021, at United Nations headquarters in New York. (EDUARDO MUNOZ / POOL VIA AP)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the world is hurtling toward ecological destruction, sounding a bleak opening tone to the annual UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

Speaking a day after convening world leaders to ratchet up climate commitments, Guterres said Tuesday that the “climate alarm bells” are “ringing at fever pitch.” Calling current global efforts insufficient, he forecast a “hellscape of temperature rises” if emissions aren’t cut more than currently planned. 

READ MORE: UN chief to rich states: Deliver US$100b for climate action

“We are weeks away from the UN Climate Conference in Glasgow, but seemingly light-years away from reaching our targets,” Guterres told world leaders at the hybrid event where leaders including US President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro are speaking in person but others will appear by video. “We must get serious. And we must act fast.”

Calling current global efforts insufficient, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres forecast a “hellscape of temperature rises” if emissions aren’t cut more than currently planned

There were also hints of optimism on the climate front. Speaking on the sidelines of an event on the subject at the UN on Monday, US climate envoy John Kerry expressed confidence that world leaders will meet a target of raising $100 billion in climate aid to developing nations before the UK hosts two weeks of climate talks  known as COP26  in Glasgow, Scotland, beginning Oct 31.

Vaccine inequity

Guterres also decried the global vaccine inequity that has left rich countries with surplus doses and considering booster shots even as developing nations have barely started vaccinating their populations.

“Perhaps one image tells the tale of our times,” he said. “The picture we have seen from some parts of the world of COVID-19 vaccines in the garbage, expired and unused. It is an obscenity.”

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Reviewing the mistrust and lack of unity he says have undermined global efforts to address covid and climate, Guterres said, “Instead of the path of solidarity, we are on a dead end to destruction.” While millions go hungry, Guterres said, they see “billionaires joyriding to space.”

The UNGA continues into next week. Biden will host a virtual summit on Wednesday that will focus on concrete measures to bring the pandemic to an end.

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