António Guterres says climate action central to every aspect of UN’s work, as leaders depart Cop31 and talks go on
Tackling the climate crisis is central to all of human life and must be at the forefront of global governance, the outgoing UN secretary general has said in an emotional farewell address at the Cop31 climate summit.
“You cannot build peace on a burning planet,” António Guterres said at his final climate press conference as secretary general on Friday. “You cannot eradicate poverty when climate disasters keep throwing people back into it. You cannot promise young people a better future while destroying the natural systems on which that future depends.”
Guterres has been the most forthright secretary general yet on the subject of the climate, returning to it again and again to castigate fossil fuel companies and recalcitrant governments.
He leaves office at the end of December and his successor is still unknown after Donald Trump tried to interject his preferred choices into the process. There are widespread fears that the next incumbent will downplay the climate crisis in favour of other issues.
In a clear message to his successor, Guterres spelled out why the UN must continue to place the climate at the top of the global agenda. “Climate change does not stay in its lane,” he said. “It drives anger and displacement around the world. It wipes out development gains built over decades. It pushes countries deeper into deficit. It aggravates competition for land and water.
“It fuels instability. And increasingly, it threatens the very existence of communities and countries. For all these reasons, I have never viewed climate action as just one of many other issues. Climate action is central to every aspect of the work of the UN.”
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