War against nature must stop: UN chief
The devastating impact of global warming that threatens humanity is a pushback from nature under assault, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Sunday ahead of a key climate conference.
"For many decades the human species has been at war with the planet, and now the planet is fighting back," he said, decrying the "utterly inadequate" efforts of the world's major economies to curb carbon pollution.
"We must stop our war against nature, and science tells us we can do it."
Guterres flagged a UN report to be released in a few days confirming the last five years are the warmest on record, with 2019 likely to be the second hottest ever.
"Climate-related disasters are becoming more frequent, more deadly, more destructive," he said, on the eve of the 196-nation COP25 climate change talks in Madrid.
Every year, air pollution associated with climate change kills seven million people, he noted, adding that human health and food security are at risk.
Cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases — mostly from burning carbon-based fossil fuels — that have been agreed so far under the Paris deal are not enough to limit temperature rises to a goal of between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Many countries are not even meeting those commitments, and political will is lacking, Guterres said.
The UN chief's comments were clearly aimed at the handful of countries responsible for more than half of global greenhouse gas emissions, though he did not call them out by name.
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