United Nations officials on Monday called for urgent and immediate action to address global problems such as climate change, nuclear threats, and human rights during the opening session of its general assembly in New York.
This must be “a year of game-changing climate action” on climate, pollution, and water, said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, during a speech on his 2023 priorities.
“We must end the merciless, relentless, and senseless war on nature. It is putting our world at immediate risk of hurtling past the 1.5-degree temperature increase limit and now still moving toward a deadly 2.8 degrees.
“Meanwhile, humanity is taking a sledgehammer to our world’s rich biodiversity — with brutal and even irreversible consequences for people and planet,” he said. “Our ocean is choked by pollution, plastic, and chemicals and vampiric overconsumption is draining the lifeblood of our planet — water.”
“We need disruption to end the destruction,” he added. “No more baby steps.”
Guterres referred to the recent resetting of the symbolic Doomsday Clock, where midnight represents Armageddon. Researchers said the world is 90 seconds to midnight based on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, climate change, and rising nuclear threats.
“In truth, the doomsday clock is a global alarm clock,” he said. “We need to wake up and get to work.”.
Guterres invited government, business, and civil society leaders across the world to a September climate summit with one condition: “Show us accelerated action in this decade and renewed ambitious net zero plans – or please don’t show up.”
“I have a special message for fossil fuel producers and their enablers scrambling to expand production and raking in monster profits,” he said. “If you cannot set a credible course for net-zero, with 2025 and 2030 targets covering all your operations, you should not be in business. Your core product is our core problem.”
