UN chief issues climate SOS, warns of ‘unimaginable' catastrophe
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has issued his latest climate SOS, calling on countries to 'Save Our Seas' as he warned of a crisis of an 'unimaginable scale' caused by greenhouse gases and rising sea levels.
Addressing Pacific Island leaders on Tuesday in Tonga's capital, Nuku’alofa, Guterres emphasized the severity of the crisis, stating there was 'no lifeboat to take us back to safety.'
'This situation is dire: Rising seas represent a crisis entirely caused by human activity—a crisis that is escalating to an almost unimaginable scale,' Guterres said. 'The cause is undeniable: Greenhouse gases—primarily from the burning of fossil fuels—are heating our planet. The ocean is bearing the brunt of this heat—quite literally.'
The Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, hosted in Nuku’alofa until August 30, has brought together over 1,000 international delegates. Climate change and its devastating effects on the Pacific’s vulnerable, low-lying communities are at the forefront of the discussions.
Guterres, who last participated in the Leaders Meeting in 2019, highlighted the unique vulnerability of the Pacific islands, where approximately 90 percent of the population lives within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of the coast, and average elevations are just 1 to 2 meters (3.2-6.5 feet) above sea level.
During his visit to the Pacific, Guterres is also expected to travel to Samoa.
'Without significant reductions in emissions, the Pacific Islands face the prospect of at least 15 centimeters [6 inches] of additional sea level rise by mid-century, along with more than 30 days of coastal flooding each year in some areas,' he warned. 'But if we save the Pacific, we save ourselves. The world must respond to this SOS before it’s too late.'
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