UN chief issues a dire call to action at COP28, urging global leaders to avert a catastrophic rise in temperatures, safeguard coastal communities, and embrace renewable energy solutions
World leaders attending the COP28 climate conference this week are facing a critical decision. According to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, they must take action to halt the dangerous global warming cycle before it reaches a "deadly tipping point." This warning comes in light of recent data showing that ice in Antarctica is melting at an alarming rate—three times faster than it was in the early 1990s.
The South Pole is now 1.5 million square kilometres below average for this time of year, equal to the combined surface area of Portugal, Spain, France, and Germany.
Nowhere to hide
"What happens in Antarctica doesn't stay in Antarctica," Mr. Guterres said. "We live in an interconnected world. Melting sea ice means rising seas. And that directly endangers lives and livelihoods in coastal communities across the globe.
He pointed out that the impact of floods and saltwater on food and water supplies is not the only issue at stake, but also the survival of small islands and coastal cities worldwide.
"The movement of waters around Antarctica distributes heat, nutrients, and carbon around the world, helping to regulate our climate and regional weather patterns," he told correspondents outside the Security Council.
"But that system is slowing as the southern ocean grows warmer and less dense. Further slowdown, or entire breakdown, would spell catastrophe."
'Calamitous' rise
With no let-up in fossil fuel extraction, "we're heading towards a calamitous three-degree Celsius temperature rise by the end of the century," he warned. "If we continue as we are, and I strongly hope we will not, the Greenland and West Antarctica ice sheets will cross a deadly tipping point," representing an astonishing rise of around 10 metres.
The vicious cycle means accelerated heating as ice diminishes and more extreme weather. At COP28 in Dubai, "leaders must break this cycle," the UN chief declared.
The solutions are there
"The solutions are well known. Leaders must act to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, protect people from climate chaos, and end the fossil fuel age."
He argued that only a global pact to triple renewable energy use, a doubling in energy efficiency, and access to clean power for all by 2030 will be sufficient.
"Antarctica is crying out for action," the Secretary-General added. "I salute the thousands of researchers in Antarctica and around the world – expanding our understanding of the changes taking place on the continent."They are a testament to human ingenuity and the immense benefits of international collaboration. Leaders must not let the hopes of people worldwide for a sustainable planet melt away."