‘Pay up or humanity will pay the price’, Guterres warns at COP29 climate summit
Reuters
At COP29, UN Chief António Guterres urged swift action on emissions cuts, climate protections, and accessible finance, warning leaders that humanity faces severe costs if support falls short.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged leaders at the COP29 Climate Action Summit in Baku to act swiftly to reduce emissions, protect people from escalating climate disasters, and remove barriers to climate financing, responding to the "climate destruction" seen in 2024.
“The sound you hear is the ticking clock. We are in the final countdown to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. And time is not on our side,” he said.
Mr. Guterres stressed that “developing countries must not leave Baku empty-handed” and urged COP29 leaders to act swiftly: cutting emissions by nine percent annually to reach 43 percent of 2019 levels by 2030, protecting communities from climate impacts as the adaptation finance gap could hit $359 billion annually by 2030, and removing barriers to climate finance with a new, more accessible funding framework that increases concessional public finance, mobilizes trillions for developing nations, and strengthens accountability in development lending.
“On climate finance, the world must pay up, or humanity will pay the price,” he emphasized.
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