Forest fires and heat waves wreaking havoc in parts of the world show humanity is facing “mass suicide,” the UN secretary-general has warned, as governments around the world strive to protect people from the impacts of extreme heat.
António Guterres told ministers in 40 countries on Monday to talk about the climate crisis: “Half of humanity is in danger, due to floods, droughts, extreme storms and forest fires. No nation is immune. However that, we continue to fuel our addiction to fossil fuels. “
He added: “We have a choice. Collective action or collective suicide. It’s in our hands.”
Forest fires wreaked havoc over Europe and North America over the weekend. In South America, the Macchu Picchu Archaeological Site was threatened with fire. Extreme heat has hit world records in recent months as heat waves have hit India and South Asia, droughts have devastated parts of Africa and unprecedented heat waves in both dust simultaneously surprised scientists in March.
In the UK, an extreme heat warning was issued with the warmest temperatures ever recorded in the UK forecast on Monday and highs above the 40ºC forecast in some places.
Ministers meeting in Berlin for a two-day climate conference known as the Petersberg Climate Dialogue will discuss extreme weather, as well as rising fossil fuel and food prices, and the impacts of the climate crisis. The meeting, convened annually for the past 13 years by the German government, marks one of the last opportunities to reach an agreement between key countries ahead of the UN Cop27 summit on climate in Egypt this November.
Alok Sharma, who chaired the UN Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow last November, will be absent from the Berlin conference, although he will join several sessions virtually. He must stay in London to vote in the race for the Conservative Party leadership, which will determine who will replace Boris Johnson as UK Prime Minister. The United Kingdom still holds the presidency of the UN talks until Egypt takes over, and Sharma’s absence raised eyebrows among some participants.
António Guterres: ‘We have a choice. Collective action or collective suicide. It’s in our hands. ‘ Photo: Lev Radin / Pacific Press / Rex / Shutterstock
The outlook for the Cop27 has eased considerably in recent months, as rising energy and food prices have engulfed governments in a cost-of-living inflationary crisis, caused in part by the emergence gradual phase of the Covid-19 pandemic and aggravated by the war in Ukraine. .
At Cop26, countries agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 ° C above pre-industrial levels, but the commitments they made were still insufficient to do so. All countries agreed this year to submit improved national plans for greenhouse gas emissions, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
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Frans Timmermans, the vice-president of the European Commission, which leads the EU bloc in UN climate talks, lowered expectations for the conference in an interview with the Guardian. “I don’t see so many new NDCs on the horizon, frankly,” he said, noting Australia, with its new government, as a rare exception.
Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s foreign minister and president of Cop27, will attend the talks in Berlin this week, but his presence will be overshadowed by concerns about the recently introduced NDC by Egypt. The plan disappointed many observers, who expected much higher levels of ambition, to set an example for other emerging economies.
Guterres also harshly criticized “multilateral development banks,” institutions like the World Bank that are funded by taxpayers from the rich world to provide assistance to poor countries.
He said they were not fit for purpose when it came to providing the necessary funding for the climate crisis and that they should be reformed.
He said: “As shareholders of multilateral development banks, developed countries must demand the immediate delivery of the investments and assistance needed to expand renewable energy and build climate resilience in developing countries. Demand that these banks to be fit for purpose. To demand that they change their tired frameworks and policies to take more risks … We show developing countries that they can trust their partners. “