The state of the planet is broken, says UN chief

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Wednesday denounced a “suicidal” failure to combat global warming and said recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic could be humanity’s chance for a reset to save the planet.

“The state of the planet is broken. Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal,” the UN chief said in a speech at Columbia University in New York City.

“Next year we have the opportunity to stop plunder and begin healing,” he added.

“COVID-19 recovery and our planet’s repair must be two sides of the same coin.”

Guterres called for a reduction in use of fossil fuels, and said a summit planned on Dec.12 for the fith anniversary of the Paris climate change agreement should chart a new way forward. “A new world is taking shape,” he said. “Biodiversity is collapsing. One million species are at risk of extinction. Ecosystems are disappearing before our eyes. Deserts are spreading. Wetlands are being lost. Every year, we lose 10 million hectares of forests.

“Oceans are overfished -- and choking with plastic waste. The carbon dioxide they absorb is acidifying the seas. Coral reefs are bleached and dying. Air and water pollution are killing nine million people annually.”

As such “making peace with nature” must “be the top, top priority” of the 21st century, he warned, adding: “there is no vaccine for the planet.”

Welcoming the first commitments towards carbon neutrality from China, the European Union, Japan and South Korea, he hoped that the movement would become global.

“Every country, city, financial institution and company should adopt plans for transitioning to net zero emissions by 2050,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Wednesday that this year is on track to be the second hotest on record, behind 2016. Five data sets currently place 2020, a year characterised by heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and raging hurricanes, as the second warmest since records began in 1850.

“2020 is very likely to be one of the three warmest years on record globally,” the Genevabased UN agency said in its State of the Global Climate in 2020 report.

Stoked by extreme heat, wildfires flared across Australia, Siberia and the United States this year, sending smoke plumes around the globe.

Leaders from the 27 EU countries aim to approve the new target - by unanimity - at a summit on Dec. 10-11.

The challenge is to drat a deal that all countries will support - including states concerned by the economic transformation required, such as Poland and Bulgaria, which want more analysis and conditions atached to the goal.