UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that humanity has already lost the target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C and that the world must immediately change course to avoid catastrophic consequences.
Ahead of the COP30 climate summit next month in Belém, Brazil, Guterres said exceeding the Paris Agreement threshold is “inevitable” and will have “devastating consequences” for the planet.
He stated:
“Let’s acknowledge our failure. We have lost the chance to prevent exceeding 1.5 degrees in the coming years, and the consequences will be severe – from the Amazon to Greenland and the West Antarctic.”
According to Guterres, the main priority at COP30 should be to take immediate action to minimize the period and impact of temperature overshoot, to prevent irreversible changes in major ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest, the Arctic, and the oceans.
Despite repeated warnings from scientists, Guterres noted that countries’ commitments have been insufficient. So far, only 62 out of 197 nations have submitted national climate action plans, while a 60% reduction in emissions is needed to maintain the 1.5°C target.
However, he stressed that the goal is not yet permanently lost:
“If we act decisively now, it is still possible that after a brief overshoot, temperatures can return to the targeted level by the end of the century.”
