Climate action is fight of our lives: UN head at SCO summit

Unless humanity acts together to deal with the climate crisis, the world is heading for disaster, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a Eurasian summit on July 4, 2023. 

Guterres delivered a video address to the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), focusing on how SCO members can contribute to the fight against climate change. The SCO is an Eurasian political, economic, international security and defence organisation. 

The UN head said: 

Climate action is the fight of our lives and SCO members have an important role to play.

Guterres brought up a proposed Climate Solidarity Pact, under which big emitters will make extra efforts to cut emissions while developed countries support emerging economies for the benefit of all. The secretary-general first put forward the idea of the Pact to the Group of 20, or G20, in November 2022. 

Read more: Developed countries received most from crisis funds, poorest got the least: UN chief

The pact would see wealthy nations and international financial institutions provide funding and technical assistance to support emerging economies in accelerating their transition to renewable energy. 

The deal will help end dependence on fossil fuels while providing universal, affordable and sustainable energy for all, according to Guterres.

He also suggested the Acceleration Agenda at the SCO summit address, which calls for developed countries to reach net-zero as close as possible to 2040 and emerging economies as close as possible to 2050.  

The Acceleration Agenda urges developed countries to phase out coal by 2030 and developing countries by 2040. It also calls for the delivery of the $100 billion dollars to developing countries, doubling of adaptation finance and the operationalisation of the loss and damage fund. 

The summit was taking place amidst growing global challenges and risks and the world needs to work together as divisions are growing and geopolitical tensions are rising, Guterres said in his address. 

Read more: Time to reform UN Security Council, Bretton Woods system outdated: Guterres

However, the global challenges, from the climate crisis to growing inequality and the governance of new technology, can only be resolved through dialogue and cooperation, he added.

The secretary-general also brought up how developing economies had not yet recovered from the economic impact of the pandemic. “The pandemic showed that the global financial architecture is outdated, dysfunctional and unjust. It is not fulfilling its core function as a global safety net,” he said.

He called for deep reforms to make global frameworks more representative of developing and emerging economies, along with an immediate release of SDG stimulus to increase liquidity, reduce the debt burden on developing economies and get the 2030 Agenda on track.