António Guterres: COP29 must tear down the walls to climate finance

The world has begun the final countdown in the time it has to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C, the UN secretary general António Guterres has warned.

“The hottest day on record … and the hottest months on record … this is almost certain to be the hottest year on record … Families running for their lives before the next hurricane strikes; biodiversity destroyed in sweltering seas,” were some of the examples Guterres highlighted in his speech at the UN climate change conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.

He also noted that workers and pilgrims were collapsing in insufferable heat, floods were  tearing through communities and tearing down infrastructure, while children were going to bed hungry as droughts ravaged crops in several parts of the world.

These and other disasters were being supercharged by human-made climate change and no country would be spared, the UN chief warned. He did not pull his punches on who was responsible for the problem. 

“The rich cause the problem; the poor pay the highest price. Oxfam finds the richest billionaires emit more carbon in an hour and a half than the average person does in a lifetime,” he said. 

Despite this, Guterres remained hopeful about global efforts towards using cleaner energy.

“Last year — for the first time — the amount invested in grids and renewables overtook the amount spent on fossil fuels,” he said.

“Almost everywhere, solar and wind are the cheapest source of new electricity. Doubling down on fossil fuels is absurd. The clean energy revolution is here. No group, no business and no government can stop it. 

“But you can, and must, ensure it is fair and fast enough to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.”

He pleaded with COP29 delegates to focus on reducing emissions, saying it was imperative to limit global warming and they must be cut by 9% every year. 

Guterres also called for carbon markets — trading schemes that provide financial incentives for climate change mitigation — to be fair and respect local communities without land-grabbing or greenwashing. He added that climate action plans must be delivered at next year’s climate conference in Brazil.

“But the G20 must lead. They are the largest emitters, with the greatest capacities and responsibilities. They must bring their technological knowhow together — with developed countries supporting emerging economies,” he said. 

“Only you can beat the clock on 1.5°,” Guterres said.

He said vulnerable populations, in particular, should be protected from climate change.

“The gap between adaptation needs and finance could reach up to $359 billion a year by 2030. These missing dollars are not abstractions on a balance sheet, they are lives taken, harvests lost and development denied. 

“Now, more than ever, finance promises must be kept. Developed countries must race the clock to double adaptation finance to at least $40 billion a year by 2025,” he said. 

Guterres said adaptation investments had the power to transform economies and drive progress, adding that there was an urgent need for early-warning systems to be put in place by 2027 to alert people to potential disasters on time. 

Developing countries should not leave Baku empty-handed and a deal for finance was a priority. This, he said, should be in the form of concessional public finance, low debt, with a clear understanding of how the funding would be attained, levies on shipping, aviation and fossil fuel extraction, and a framework for transparency and better lending initiatives. 

“COP29 must tear down the walls to climate finance,” Guterres said.

“There is no time to lose. On climate finance, the world must pay up, or humanity will pay the price.”