UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned again today that the planet is “on the brink” of environmental crises, during the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6).
“Our planet is on the brink. Ecosystems are collapsing,” António Guterres said in a video shown at the opening of the high-level environmental summit of UNEA-6, the world’s main environmental decision-making body, held in Nairobi, Kenya.
António Guterres stressed that the climate is “imploding from within” and that “this is humanity's fault.”
The Secretary-General of the United Nations warned that “the consequences, from poisoned rivers to rising sea levels, affect us all,” stressing that “the least responsible are those who suffer most.”
To confront this crisis, he called for working “together (…) to put the world on the path to sustainability and accelerate sustainable development.”
“This means taking urgent action to accelerate the just transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, adapt to extreme weather events, provide climate justice, control pollution, and protect and restore ecosystems,” he stressed.
According to António Guterres, countries must “set national targets to comply with this framework”, that is, “establish new contributions at the national level for the entire economy before 2025, in line with limiting the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius.” .
“Together we need to forge a new treaty on plastic pollution and increase financing for sustainable development, climate action and biodiversity in developing countries,” he added.
In a message to the leaders of the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, which includes Kenyan President William Ruto and other African heads of state, as well as several ministers from around the world, Guterres urged countries to “achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”
“You have many important decisions ahead of you, so seize this opportunity to push for multilateral solutions. Let’s make the spirit of Nairobi work again,” he concluded.
UNEA-6 brings together more than 5,000 representatives from governments, civil society and the private sector at the UN complex in the Kenyan capital from Monday until today.
At this year's session, the sixth since the assembly was launched in 2014, countries are expected to consider about 19 resolutions covering challenges such as halting desertification, combating air pollution or reducing chemical pollution.
