Despite the announced prospect of a climate “catastrophe”, the world’s collective response remains “pitiful”, denounced the UN secretary general on Thursday, notably attacking once again fossil fuels “incompatible” with survival. of humanity.
“We are rushing towards disaster with eyes wide open, with far too many people ready to gamble everything on wishful thinking, unproven technologies or silver bullets,” Antonio Guterres said during an interview. a press conference.
“Current policies lead the world towards a warming of +2.8°C by the end of the century. This announces a disaster. Yet the collective response is pitiful. »
“Countries are far from delivering on their climate promises and commitments. I see a lack of ambition. A lack of trust. A lack of support. A lack of cooperation. And a plethora of problems of clarity and credibility,” hammered home the Secretary General, who will organize a summit on climate action in New York on September 20.
“It’s time to wake up and pick up the pace,” he pleaded, still believing that meeting the agreement’s ideal goal of limiting warming to +1.5°C is “still possible” .
But for that, we must act “immediately”, starting “with the polluted heart of the climate crisis: fossil fuels”.
“The problem is not just fossil fuel emissions. It’s the fossil fuels themselves, period. »
Fossil fuel industries, coal, oil and gas, are prime targets of the Secretary General, who urged them to move away from “a product incompatible with human survival”.
Highlighting the record profits in oil and gas companies, he considered that “exchanging the future for 30 pieces of silver is immoral”, in reference to the biblical episode in which Judas denounces Jesus for this sum.
Asked about the fact that the president of the next COP28 on climate, Sultan Al Jaber, is also the boss of the main oil company of the United Arab Emirates, Antonio Guterres noted that his “call is not aimed at people, but at the bottom , the solutions “.
“For me, what is essential in the COPs is to ensure that those who are most connected to the sectors that have benefited from the economy of the past recognize the importance of being leaders in creating the economy of the future,” he said.
The Secretary General, who spoke Thursday morning with a dozen representatives of civil society on this issue, also denounced the fact that “the human rights of climate activists are violated”.
“In all societies, without exception, the voices of civil society must be heard. They must be at the negotiating table for policy-making, and on the ground to help bring about change,” he insisted.