We Must Unite for Action to Accelerate Energy Revolution, Drive Down Global Emissions, Secretary-General Tells Austrian World Summit

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the ninth Austrian World Summit, in Vienna today:

Excellencies, friends, [Austria] President [Alexander] Van der Bellen, thank you for your leadership.  And my thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It is fitting that the world’s one and only Terminator is focusing our attention on terminating pollution — continuing his history of political leadership and action.

Unfortunately, our world looks less like an action hero movie and increasingly more like a horror show.

We face a triple-whammy of woe:  pollution clogging rivers, contaminating land and poisoning our ocean; biodiversity destroyed at record pace; and record levels of greenhouse gases catastrophically disrupting our climate.

We salute the real-life heroes on the front lines when these crises strike:  the firefighters taking on inferno; the rescuers saving lives as floods sweep communities; and the United Nations staff providing food, shelter and care when crops fail, hurricanes hit, or people are forced from their homes.

No country — whether rich or poor — can escape these crises.  And no country can solve them alone.  But together, we can reap the rewards of action — from cheap, secure power, to better health.

The science is on our side.  The economics are behind us.

Almost everywhere, solar and wind are the cheapest source of new electricity.

The world now invests almost twice as much in clean energy as it does in fossil fuels.

An energy revolution is under way across the globe.

We must unite for action to accelerate it, and drive down global emissions:

With new national climate plans from countries this year and new transition plans from business.

These must align with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C — to avoid the worst of climate change.

We must unite in action to drive finance to developing countries so they can make the leap to renewables, adapt to our changing climate and respond to disasters.

And we must unite in action to end biodiversity loss and pollution. 

Particularly, countries must agree a new global treaty this year to end plastic pollution.

Friends, united in action we can terminate pollution and protect people and planet.  Let’s come together and make that a reality. 

Thank you.