“The dystopian future is already here”, warns the UN

A cry of urgency. “The dystopian future is already here”, the UN human rights chief declared Monday, September 11, warning of global warming which is leading to fires, floods and devastating heatwaves.

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“Climate change is plunging millions into famine. It is destroying hopes, opportunities, homes and lives. In recent months, urgent warnings have become deadly realities, again and again, around the world.”lamented Volker Türk at the opening of the 54th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva (Switzerland).

“Urgent action”

“We don’t need any further warnings. We need urgent action now. And we know what needs to be done. The real question is: what’s stopping us?” he said. His cry of alarm follows the failure of the G20 this weekend to call for an exit from fossil fuels, contrary to the hopes of several observers.

While climate change increases population displacement, the High Commissioner for Human Rights also denounced “indifference” faced with the tragedy of migrants who perish on the migration routes. “I am shocked by the nonchalance shown in the face of the more than 2,300 people who have been declared dead or missing in the Mediterranean this year,” including more than 600 in a single shipwreck off Greece in June, he said.