World is in 'life-or-death struggle' for survival — UN

UN chief Guterres has called on the most polluting countries to act on the loss and damage they have wreaked.

In this Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 file photo, a floating dock sits on the lakebed of the Suesca lagoon, in Suesca, Colombia.
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In this Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 file photo, a floating dock sits on the lakebed of the Suesca lagoon, in Suesca, Colombia.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned that the world is in “a life-or-death struggle” for survival as “climate chaos gallops ahead” and accused the world’s 20 wealthiest countries of failing to do enough to stop the planet from overheating.

The UN chief said on Monday emissions of global-warming greenhouse gases are at an all-time high and rising, and it’s time for “a quantum level compromise” between rich developed countries that emitted most of the heat-trapping gases and emerging economies that often feel its worst effects.

Guterres spoke as government representatives opened a meeting in Congo’s capital Kinshasa to prepare for the major UN-led climate conference in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh in November. It's a time of immense climate impacts around the world — from floods that put one-third of Pakistan under water and Europe’s hottest summer in 500 years to hurricanes and typhoons that have hammered the Philippines, Cuba and the US state of Florida.

In the last few weeks, Guterres has amped up a push for climate’s version of asking polluters pay for what they’ve done, usually called “loss and damage,” and he said that people need action now.

“Failure to act on loss and damage will lead to more loss of trust and more climate damage. This is a moral imperative that cannot be ignored.”

Guterres said the COP27 meeting in Egypt “must be the place for action on loss and damage.”

In unusually critical language, he said commitments by the so-called G20 group of the world’s 20 leading economies “are coming far too little, and far too late.”

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'Life-or-death struggle'

Guterres warned that current pledges and policies “are shutting the door on our chances to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, let alone meet the 1.5 degree goal.”

“We are in a life-or-death struggle for our own safety today and our survival tomorrow," he said.

“COP27 is the place for all countries — led by the G20 — to show they are in this fight, and in it together,” Guterres said. “And the best way to show it is by showing up at COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh.”

Rich countries, especially the United States, have emitted far more than their share of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, data shows. Nations like Pakistan and Cuba have been hurt far more than their share of global carbon emissions.

The issue is fundamental for the world's developing countries and Guterres is reminding rich nations “that they cannot try and brush it under the carpet ... G20 nations have to take responsibility for the great need their actions have caused,” said Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa, which tries to mobilize climate action in Africa.

Princeton University climate science and international affairs professor Michael Oppenheimer said in an email that if high-income and other big emitters like China want the UN convention on climate change to remain useful, "they will need to grapple seriously with loss and damage.”

Otherwise, he said, negotiations “are headed for interminable gridlock.”

Guterres’ remarks “highlight what small islands and least developed countries have been arguing for decades — that loss and damage is irrefutable and already disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable countries and communities,” said Adelle Thomas, a climate scientist from the Bahamas.

“We are reaching a breaking point, where developed countries must respond instead of continuing to delay action with empty promises and prolonged discussions," she added.

READ MORE: UN: Humanity going in "wrong direction" on climate crisis

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