United Nations Secretary General António Guterres Warned of Climate’s Impending Doom During Live Address

With increased use in fossil fuels, the global emissions are worsening instead of improving as promised last year, according to United Nations Secretary General António Guterres.

Guterres warned of the climate’s impending doom on Monday during a speech delivered to a summit hosted by The Economist on sustainability via video address, according to The New York Times.

According to Guterres, world leaders made grandiose promises last year during a climate summit last November.

To adequately address climate change, many countries planned to “phase down” coal and pledged to stop deforestation and significantly cut down methane emissions by 2030.

The global leaders committed to limiting the average global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, as scientists have said “catastrophic” consequences would occur after that point. 

“We are sleepwalking to a climate catastrophe,” he said in his speech.

“If we continue with more of the same, we can kiss 1.5 goodbye. Even 2 degrees may be out of reach. And that would be catastrophe.”

The planet’s temperature has already increased an average of 1.1 degrees Celsius, with global pollution emissions set to increase by 14 percent alongside coal emission increase this decade, according to Guterres.

Despite the U.S. and EU rushing to increase their fossil fuel production in response to the suffering energy markets and substitute their reliance on Russian oil and gas, both President Biden and European leaders have said these short-term needs have not altered the long-term goal of a shift to renewable resources, according to the Times.

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