'We are on a highway to climate hell': UN chief says humanity will either 'cooperate or perish'

07 November 2022

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pleaded for urgent action to curb greenhouse gas emissions at the 27th Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt on Monday.

"Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish,” Guterres said in an address to delegates from the attending countries as reported by Reuters.

Guterres stated that "the two largest economies – the United States and China – have a particular responsibility" to cooperate in the creation of an international pact "between the world's richest and poorest countries to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels and funding to ensure poorer countries can reduce emissions and cope with the climate impacts that have already occurred," per Reuters.

Guterres noted that "greenhouse gas emissions keep growing. Global temperatures keep rising. And our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible," adding that "we are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator."

Guterres' remarks at COP27 follow abysmal new data about the state of the climate.

On Sunday, the World Meteorological Organization revealed that the last eight years were the hottest ever recorded on planet Earth. The unprecedented global temperatures were "fuelled by ever-rising greenhouse gas concentrations and accumulated heat. Extreme heatwaves, drought, and devastating flooding have affected millions and cost billions this year." On top of that, last week, the UN warned that a third of the world's glaciers "will disappear" by 2050.

Former Vice President Al Gore also addressed the conference and blasted the expansion of "fossil fuel colonialism" in developing nations.

"We have a credibility problem all of us: We're talking and we're starting to act, but we're not doing enough," Gore said. "We must see the so-called 'dash for gas' for what it really is: a dash down a bridge to nowhere, leaving the countries of the world facing climate chaos and billions in stranded assets, especially here in Africa."

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