General Secretary United States António Guterres told countries attending the COP27 climate summit in Egypt today that their choice is clear: work together now to reduce emissions or condemn future generations to climate catastrophe.

His speech aimed to outline the gravity of the situation as heads of government debate for two weeks how to avoid the worst effects of climate change with war in Ukraine, skyrocketing inflation and energy shortages dominating the issues.

“Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish,” Guterres told country representatives gathered in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Leaders from Britain to Saudi Arabia are due to speak later in the day.

Guterres called for an agreement between the richest and poorest countries to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and (accelerate) the financing needed to ensure that poorer countries can cut emissions and cope with the inevitable effects of overheating that have already occurred.

“The two largest economies, the US and China, have a special responsibility to join forces to make this deal a reality,” he said.

Guterres called on countries to agree on a global coal phase-out by 2040 with members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development to achieve this goal by 2030.

“Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Global temperatures are rising. And our planet is rapidly approaching critical points that will make climate chaos irreversible,” he said. “We are on our way to climate hell and we are holding the gas pedal,” Guterres warned.

Signatories to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement committed to achieving the long-term goal of keeping global temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Scientists set this up as a ceiling to avoid catastrophic climate change.

To maintain hope of achieving this goal, zero emissions must be achieved by 2050.

“Either there will be an agreement on climate solidarity or an agreement on collective self-help,” Guterres commented.

Lagarde: reducing energy prices through a transition to a green economy

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde called for accelerating the transition of the economy to a green economy as a contribution to curbing energy prices in her message at the United Nations climate summit COP27, which is taking place these days. days in Sharm El Sheikh Egypt.

Investing in renewable energy instead of polluting fossil fuels “will make our economy not only greener, but more self-sufficient” and “limit the risk of a sharp rise in energy prices,” writes Catherine Lagarde on the ECB website.

^{According to REUTERS, AFP, APE-MPE}