COP30: UN Secretary-General says 'we have failed'

Guterres calls for a paradigm shift to meet the world's climate targets.

"The hard truth is that we have failed to ensure we remain below 1.5 degrees."

Those were the words of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres (pictured) when he addressed the COP30 Leaders' Summit in Belém, Brazil.

Referring to the 1.5°C warming limit set by the Paris Agreement, Guterres pointed to the scientific inevitability of a damaging overshoot.

"Science now tells us that a temporary overshoot beyond the 1.5 limit – starting at the latest in the early 2030s – is inevitable," he said in his remarks at the Plenary of Leaders.

"We need a paradigm shift to limit this overshoot's magnitude and duration and quickly drive it down. Even a temporary overshoot will have dramatic consequences."

For the UN Secretary-General, the failure is of a moral kind and one that translates to deadly negligence.

Guterres stated: "Let us be clear: the 1.5°C limit is a red line for humanity. It must be kept within reach. And scientists also tell us that this is still possible.

"If we act now, at speed and scale, we can make the overshoot as small, as short, and as safe as possible – and bring temperatures back below 1.5°C before century's end."

He added that the UN will not give up on this temperature target.

"We have never been better equipped to fight back," Guterres declared. "A clean energy revolution has taken hold."

The Secretary-General went on to stress that it's now time for implementation, not negotiations.