Rich countries must sign “historic pact” with poor man on climate, or “we will be doomed”, UN secretary-general António Guterres, warns that the gulf between developed and development world put climate talks on edge.
stark warning comes like world leaders start gather for UN Cop27 Climate Summit Opening on Sunday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, but which, according to the owners themselves, will be the most difficult in at least a decade.
Cop27 accepts place against the backdrop of the worst geopolitical tensions for years, over Ukrainian war, in a spiral global cost of a living crisis and deepening economic gloom.
But the abyss must be crossed if humanity there is hope of avoid the worst destruction of Climate crisis, Guterres said.
“There is no way we can avoid catastrophic situation if both [the developed and developing world] unable to conclude a historic pact,” he told The Guardian. in Interview on the day before of summit. “Because at the current level, we will be doomed.”
Developed countries have failed reduce greenhouse gas emissions fast enough and failed provide money required for poor countries cope with resulting extreme weather. The glaring climate disparity between the world’s richest responsible for the most emissions, and the poor who bear the brunt of impact, is currently the biggest issue in negotiations, according to Guterres.
“Real Politics [on the climate] would be absolutely catastrophic,” he said. “AND truth is that we cannot change this situation unless there is a pact in place between developed countries and emerging economies.
Guterres drawn some criticism for his increasingly harsh rhetoric on climate crisis, warning of “collective suicide”, the coming massacre and “code red” for humanity.
But he insisted that he would refuse water down his apocalyptic language like rapid acceleration of The climate emergency has become so dire.
“For a simple reason that we are approaching tip points and tip points I will do [climate breakdown] irreversible,” he said. “This damage is not allow us recover and keep the temperature down. And when we get close to the tip points we need to increase urgency, we need to increase ambition and we need to rebuild trust, basically trust between north and south.”
Tips points are thresholds in climate system what lead to cascading impacts when tripping. These include melting of permafrost, which releases methane, powerful a greenhouse gas that contributes to further heating, and the point at which the drying Amazon rainforest switches from sink to source of carbon, which scientists fear fast is approaching.
“We’re getting close to tipping points which will cause irreversible consequences, some of it’s hard to even imagine them,” he warned.
He also called for US and China for rebuild their broken relationship, which plunged into new omits it year, but which, according to Guterres, is critical to the fight against climate change. “It needs to be restored, because without these two countries working together, it will be absolutely impossible to reverse the current trends,” he said.
Guterres, together with egyptian government convenes world leaders on start of Cop27 summit to try and save the unpromising set of climate negotiations. This year saw geopolitical relations riven by war in Ukraine, along with rising prices for fossil fuels and food price increases that created cost of vital crisis around the world, as well as the inability of governments, including the UK, follow up on promises made last year at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow.
Pact of Guterres in the mind will require big economy to do more on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and to provide the poor countries with a financial Lifebuoy. According to him, this was necessary to restore “trust”.
Flaw of trust, in climate negotiations means no of money. Rich countries were supposed to provide at least $100 billion a year. year by 2020 to help poor countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the consequences of climate crisis.
But the target repeatedly missed, and will be missed again this year is poor countries are already climate catastrophe, including record floods in Pakistan and record drought in Africa.
“Historic pact” between rich and poor will include clear new promises on finance and for rich countries and emerging economies to boost their emissionscutting targets, Guterres said.
It would be also demand progress on sore point of “loss and damage”, which is likely to become a Cop27 hotspot. Loss and damage are among the most devastating impacts of extreme weather to which it is impossible to adapt, and bad countries want funding mechanism that allow for rescue and rehabilitation of countries whose physical and social infrastructure was destroyed climate-related natural disaster.
“Question of losses and damage were postponed and also postponed postponed”, – said Guterres. “We need do sure what is the assumption of responsibilities and effective support to countries suffering the most dramatic levels of loss and damage.”
Rich countries managed to raise $16 trillion for the deal with pandemic Covid-19, he pointed out out. But for poor countries didn’t even have debt relief help them with cumulative impact of COVID-19 cost of life’s ups and downs, the climate and the strong dollar that has made their payments more expensive.
“It makes sense of disappointment [in the developing world] that is real and it deserves an answer,” he said. He called in recent months for contingency tax on gold mine of oil and gas companies call he will repeat in Sharm El Sheikh.
AT last year top in Glasgow, countries agreed to focus on limitation global temperatures are rising 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, but recent UN reports have shown that current The policy will increase the temperature by about 2.5°C.
Guterres said there is only thin chance of holding on to the target. “We still have chance but we are losing it fast,” he said. “I would say that 1.5C in intensive care and machines are shaking. So either we act immediately and in very strong way or he is lost and probably lost for Ever.”
