{"id":370032,"date":"2025-11-10T21:19:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T21:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/370032\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T21:19:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T21:19:16","slug":"it-will-never-be-forgiven-un-climate-chief-warns-world-to-act-or-face-disaster-cop30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/370032\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It will never be forgiven\u2019: UN climate chief warns world to act or face disaster | Cop30"},"content":{"rendered":"

Governments failing to shift to a low-carbon economy will be blamed for famine and conflict abroad, and will face stagnation and rising inflation at home, the UN\u2019s climate chief warned on Monday at the start of the Cop30<\/a> climate talks.<\/p>\n

Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of the UN framework convention on climate change, addressed the gathering of ministers and high-ranking officials from nearly 200 countries<\/a>, in a stark portrayal of the price of failure on the climate crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot one single nation among you can afford this, as climate disasters rip double digits off GDP,\u201d he said. \u201cTo falter whilst megadroughts wreck national harvests, sending food prices soaring, makes zero sense economically and politically. To squabble while famines take hold, forcing millions to flee their homelands \u2013 this will never be forgotten as conflicts spread.\u201d<\/p>\n

He told the opening meeting of the UN climate summit<\/a>: \u201cWhen climate disasters decimate the lives of millions, when we already have the solutions, this will never, ever be forgiven.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two weeks of talks, hosted by Brazil in the Amazonian city of Bel\u00e9m, will focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, setting a path for the transition away from fossil fuels, and providing the finance needed to protect poor countries against extreme weather.<\/p>\n

Temperatures have already surpassed the 1.5C threshold<\/a> agreed under the 2015 Paris treaty for the past two years, but only if that continues for several more years will the rise be judged permanent and a breach of the treaty. Some scientists argue it could still be possible to bring down temperatures to the threshold again<\/a>, or close to it, through measures such as cutting the powerful greenhouse gas methane<\/a> and by a rapid switch to low-carbon technologies.<\/p>\n

Simon Stiell: \u2018Not one single nation among you can afford this.\u2019 Photograph: Bernd Arnold\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Stiell said: \u201cThe science is clear: we can and must bring temperatures back down to 1.5C after any temporary overshoot.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the world was already witnessing the impacts of extreme weather, in stronger typhoons and hurricanes, and droughts and floods. The effects were global, he added, causing inflation on commodities such as food.<\/p>\n

Seizing the opportunities of low-carbon energy, which is now cheaper than fossil fuels across 90% of the world, would bring jobs and economic growth, said Stiell. He added: \u201cThose opting out or taking baby steps face stagnation and higher prices, while other economies surge ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agenda for the Cop was adopted on Monday, without the protracted \u201cagenda fights\u201d over what should be discussed that have marred recent UN climate meetings. The Brazilian hosts convened negotiators on Sunday afternoon and made clear their wishes to have a full agenda adopted before the conference opened.<\/p>\n

The formal adoption means the talks can begin without delay, which is a relief given the packed nature of this conference. However, the way in which the agenda was adopted \u2013 with some key items being combined, or moved to sit under new workstreams within the negotiations \u2013 means that clarification is needed on some issues, such as finance, the further measures needed on emissions, and how to stay within the 1.5C limit. There will be intense \u201cpresidency consultations\u201d until Wednesday, at which point Brazil plans to set out how the agenda will work in practice over the remainder of the conference.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia and the Like-Minded Developing Countries grouping vocally objected to some of the discussions. The group takes a hard line on how much finance should be provided by developed countries, but also wants to minimise discussions on the national plans on emissions.<\/p>\n

Discussions on the \u201ctransition away from fossil fuels\u201d that was agreed at Cop28 in Dubai in 2023, regarded as of vital importance by many campaigners, could be difficult to house under the formal agenda, and could be moved to fall instead under the \u201caction agenda\u201d. This is a separate grouping of issues Brazil has instituted that, unlike items under the formal Cop agenda, can be progressed without consensus.<\/p>\n

One of the key discussions will be over the \u201cnationally determined contributions\u201d (NDCs), which are so far grossly inadequate, and would lead to global heating of 2.5C. The Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis) has asked for an agenda item that would address this, and require the conference to resolve a series of measures to do better. Ilana Seid, Palau\u2019s ambassador and the chair of Aosis, said: \u201cThe 1.5C target is our north star. We need to say that collectively we are falling short on that and we need to have a response.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that is likely to face severe opposition, particularly from countries in the like-minded countries grouping. They prefer to interpret the Paris agreement\u2019s dual goal \u2013 of holding temperatures \u201cwell below 2C\u201d while \u201cpursuing efforts\u201d to stay within 1.5C \u2013 as allowing temperatures to rise to 2C, even though several meetings since Paris have reaffirmed 1.5C as the key goal. Scientific advice is that dangerous \u201ctipping points\u201d leading to irreversible changes could be triggered above 1.5C, and before the 2C limit is breached.<\/p>\n

The same countries may also oppose attempts to set out a \u201croadmap\u201d on how to ensure the world fulfils the promise to transition away from fossil fuels<\/a>, which was made two years ago at Cop28 in Dubai.<\/p>\n

Rich countries will also fall under the spotlight for their failure to cut emissions fast enough, and to provide sufficient finance for vulnerable developing countries. Last year, they promised $300bn in financial assistance,<\/a> as part of a wider goal of $1.3tn per year for poor countries by 2035, but without a clear plan on how to meet either target. They will be under pressure to flesh out those plans this year.<\/p>\n

The Brazilian president, Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva, stressed the importance of emissions reductions during this Cop, even though it was not on the formal agenda. \u201cWe need a roadmap so that humanity \u2026 can overcome its dependence on fossil fuels,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also raised the importance of reducing deforestation and putting people at the heart of climate action, particularly Indigenous communities. Lula launched a fierce attack on those who spread fear and attacked science \u2013 an apparently veiled reference to the US president, Donald Trump, who has constantly called climate action a \u201choax\u201d and recently bullied smaller nations into weakening action on maritime emissions.<\/p>\n

In a defence of the Paris agreement, Lula said the world would be doomed to catastrophic warming of 5C by the end of this century if it were not for multilateral negotiations. \u201cWe are moving in the right direction,\u201d he said, but emphasised the need for more urgency in implementation of policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope the serenity of the forest inspires in all of us much-needed clarity of thought,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Governments failing to shift to a low-carbon economy will be blamed for famine and conflict abroad, and will…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":370033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[51,50,52],"class_list":{"0":"post-370032","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115527494490788603","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}