Exclusive: Departing UN chief calls for faster climate action as 1.5-degree goal slips away, AP reports

A final climate appeal

Guterres plans to tell leaders at COP31 that the climate crisis has reached a decisive point. The conference is scheduled for Nov. 9-20, and the talks begin in Turkey on Monday.

He says governments can no longer delay or shift responsibility to one another. “Everybody must do more now,” Guterres said.

The warming goal slips

For years, Guterres argued that the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius remained possible. After consulting scientists before a major speech last year, he said he experienced an “enormous shock.” The United Nations is now focused on limiting how far temperatures rise beyond that threshold. Guterres said the failure lies with political leadership, which often lacks a lasting strategy and changes policies too frequently.

Renewables offer hope

He warned that artificial intelligence adds to pressure on electricity and water supplies and contributes carbon emissions. Guterres has also called for an end to the fossil fuel era and said climate victims need financial help, especially when they did little to cause the crisis.

A voice without power

Guterres said the secretary-general has little direct authority or funding, since countries are not required to follow U.N. appeals and major powers have veto rights. “There is one thing we have: A voice,” he said.

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore praised Guterres’s climate advocacy, calling it eloquent and forceful. Guterres wants the public to treat climate change as an existential threat and fight to protect lives.