In honor of World Environment Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres spoke from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The full text of which can be found here.
Selected Excerpts
“But like the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs, we’re having an outsized impact. In the case of climate, we are not the dinosaurs. We are the meteor. We are not only in danger. We are the danger. But we are also the solution.”
“The truth is… the battle for 1.5 degrees will be won or lost in the 2020s – under the watch of leaders today. All depends on the decisions those leaders take – or fail to take – especially in the next eighteen months. It’s climate crunch time. The need for action is unprecedented but so is the opportunity – not just to deliver on climate, but on economic prosperity and sustainable development. Climate action cannot be captive to geo-political divisions.”
“1.5 degrees is not a target. It is not a goal. It is a physical limit. Scientists have alerted us that temperatures rising higher would likely mean:
- The collapse of the Greenland Ice Sheet and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet with catastrophic sea level rise;
- The destruction of tropical coral reef systems and the livelihoods of 300 million people;
- The collapse of the Labrador Sea Current that would further disrupt weather patterns in Europe;
- And widespread permafrost melt that would release devastating levels of methane, one of the most potent heat-trapping gasses.
Even today, we’re pushing planetary boundaries to the brink – shattering global temperature records and reaping the whirlwind. And it is a travesty of climate justice that those least responsible for the crisis are hardest hit: the poorest people; the most vulnerable countries; Indigenous Peoples; women and girls.”
“The cost of all this chaos is hitting people where it hurts: From supply-chains severed, to rising prices, mounting food insecurity, and uninsurable homes and businesses. That bill will keep growing. Even if emissions hit zero tomorrow, a recent study found that climate chaos will still cost at least $38 trillion a year by 2050. Climate change is the mother of all stealth taxes paid by everyday people and vulnerable countries and communities. Meanwhile, the Godfathers of climate chaos – the fossil fuel industry – rake in record profits and feast off trillions in taxpayer-funded subsidies.”
“We do have a choice. Creating tipping points for climate progress – or careening to tipping points for climate disaster. No country can solve the climate crisis in isolation. This is an all-in moment. And to young people, to civil society, to cities, regions, businesses and others who have been leading the charge towards a safer, cleaner world, I say: Thank you. You are on the right side of history. You speak for the majority. Keep it up. Don’t lose courage. Don’t lose hope. It is we the Peoples versus the polluters and the profiteers. Together, we can win. But it’s time for leaders to decide whose side they’re on. Tomorrow it will be too late.Now is the time to mobilise, now is the time to act, now is the time to deliver.”
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