UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that the world is underestimating the risk of catastrophic climate breakdown, with global temperatures set to exceed the critical 1.5C threshold in coming years.
In an interview with The Guardian at the Cop16 biodiversity summit, Guterres highlighted the imminent danger of irreversible tipping points, including potential collapse of the Amazon rainforest and Greenland ice sheet.
His warning comes as new research shows Earth’s natural carbon sinks absorbed almost no carbon in 2023, during the hottest year on record.
“We should be reducing [emissions] by 9% every year. Unfortunately, last year, there was still a growth of 1.3%”, Guterres said, adding that current trajectories point to a 3.1C temperature rise.
The UN chief’s comments come ahead of Cop29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, where governments will discuss climate financing. While Guterres believes limiting warming to 1.5C remains possible, he acknowledged that temporary overshoots are likely and stressed that current political will is insufficient.
He also warned that a potential U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement under a Trump presidency would seriously impair but not destroy the accord, emphasising the need for a complete phase-out of fossil fuels to avoid catastrophic climate change.
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