Urgent Protective Environmental Action Needed to Stop ‘Breathtaking Injustice’, Secretary-General Tells Ecology Global Climate Crisis Symposium

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the Siena College Laudato Si’ Center for Ecology Global Climate Crisis Symposium, held in Albany, New York, today:

I thank Siena College for organizing this conference. My personal links to the Franciscans run deep.  Father Vítor Melícias — a Franciscan priest — is a life-long friend, who has presided over both my wedding ceremonies, baptized my children and celebrated mass many times in my home.

And as an António from Lisbon, I have a strong connection with Santo António — one of the first Franciscans.  People from Lisbon and people from Padua may never agree on where Santo António belongs, but of course, he belongs to the whole world.

And that world — our world — is in trouble.  We are witnessing real-time climate collapse — the result of the greenhouse gases we are spewing into the atmosphere. Temperature records are falling like dominoes.  Violent weather is becoming more extreme and more brutal.

This year, we’ve seen Hurricane Beryl wreak havoc across the Caribbean and —reportedly — deprive almost 3 million Texans of power. We’ve seen heat force schools to close in Africa and Asia.  And we’ve seen a mass global coral bleaching caused by unprecedented ocean temperatures, soaring past the worst predictions of scientists.

All this puts peace and justice in peril — as Saint Francis would have understood.  As Pope Francis has said, Saint Francis “shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society and interior peace”.

Today, floods and droughts are fuelling instability, driving conflict, and forcing people from their homes.  And though climate chaos is everywhere, it doesn’t affect everyone equally. The very people most at risk, are those who did the least to cause the crisis:  small island States, developing countries, the poor and the vulnerable. This is breathtaking injustice — and it is just the beginning.

The patron saint of ecology has much to teach us about making peace with nature.  So, of course, does Pope Francis.  Including through his inspiring 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’, after which this Center is named.  Pope Francis tells us that:  “When we exploit creation, we destroy the sign of God’s love for us.”  He reminded us that human beings are “custodians” of this creation, not “masters” of it.

We must stop intentionally destroying our natural world and its gifts.  We must protect people from the destruction we have unleashed.  We must deliver climate justice for the vulnerable.  And, crucially, we must limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius – as countries agreed to do in the landmark international climate pact – the Paris Agreement.

The 1.5°C limit is vital.  Our planet is a mass of complex, connected systems.  Every fraction of a degree of global heating counts.  The difference between a temperature rise of 1.5°C and 2°C could be the difference between extinction and survival for some small island States and coastal communities.  And the difference between minimizing climate chaos or crossing dangerous tipping points.

For example, temperatures rising over 1.5°C would likely mean the collapse of the Greenland Ice Sheet and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet with catastrophic sea level rise.  But, we are nearly out of time.  Meeting the 1.5°C limit means cutting emissions 43 per cent on 2019 levels by the end of this decade.  That is daunting, but possible — if, and only if, leaders act now.

Next year, Governments must submit new national climate action plans — known as nationally determined contributions.  These will dictate emissions for the coming years. At the United Nations climate conference last year — COP28 [twenty-eighth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] — countries agreed to align those plans with the 1.5°C limit.

That means, putting the world on track:  To reach net-zero global emissions by 2050; end deforestation by 2030; accelerate the roll-out of renewables. And phase out planet-wrecking fossil fuels — fast and fairly.

Fossil-fuel expansion and new coal plants are inconsistent with 1.5°C .  They must stop.  Not only for the sake of the climate.  But, for sustainable development and economies, too.  Renewable power can connect people to electricity for the first time — transforming lives in the most remote and poorest regions.  And onshore wind and solar are the cheapest source of new electricity in most of the world.

We cannot accept a future where the rich are protected in air-conditioned bubbles, while the rest of humanity is lashed by lethal weather in unliveable lands.  Leaders must take urgent steps to shield communities from the impact of climate destruction — for example, building flood defences and early warning systems to alert people that extreme weather is coming.

But, developing countries can neither cut emissions nor protect themselves if money is not available.  Today, eye-watering debt repayments are drying up funds for climate action.  Extortion-level capital costs are putting renewables virtually out of reach for most developing and emerging economies.  This must change.  Developed countries have made promises to deliver climate finance — they must keep them.

All countries must support action on debt, and deep reforms to the multilateral system – including the multilateral development banks — so that they can provide developing countries with far more low-cost capital. And Governments must make generous contributions to the new Loss and Damage Fund — providing financial assistance to countries most impacted by climate change.

You play a vital role.  Everywhere, young people and religious communities are on the frontlines for bold climate action.  The Laudate Si’ Franciscan Network can be an important part of these efforts.

Together, we must stand with our brothers and sisters around the world in the fight for climate justice; alert our fellow citizens to the crisis; inspire them to call for change; and demand that our governments take this chance, and act:  to protect the vulnerable, deliver justice and save the planet.

In the words of Pope Francis:  “Let us choose the future.  May we be attentive to the cry of the earth, may we hear the plea of the poor, may we be sensitive to the hopes of the young and the dreams of children.”