Humanity has “opened the gates of hell,” the UN Secretary-General has warned

On Wednesday, September 20, the Secretary-General of the United Nations warned of humanity’s addiction to fossil fuels “The gates of hell have opened”This was done by launching a summit in New York on combating global warming. Evoke the “terrible heat” And the “Historic fires” This year, fueled by greenhouse gas emissions due to human activities, António Guterres stressed that it is not too late. “To limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius”.

“The future is not written: it is up to you, leaders, to write it.”And he warned. “We can still build a world with clean air, green jobs, and clean, affordable energy for all.”, he added. Despite the multiplication and intensification of extreme weather events, greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming continue to increase, and the fossil fuel sector is reaping record profits.

That is why António Guterres called for this summit to be held “Common sense” The invited leaders must announce specific actions to achieve their commitments made under the 2015 Paris Agreement. But the entry ticket is high. The Secretary-General was very clear: only the most ambitious people, especially regarding carbon neutrality targets, have the right to express themselves.

The United States and China are largely absent

“There will be no room for backtracking, greenwashing, evading responsibilities or rehashing previous years’ declarations.”He warned when announcing this meeting at the end of December 2022. After receiving more than a hundred responses from countries justifying its move, the United Nations finally published the list of the lucky ones on Tuesday evening. There are also some notable absentees, especially the two countries that emit the most greenhouse gases: the United States and China.

The UK is also not included in the programme. Its Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, suggested on Tuesday that he might return to the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. On the other hand, the European Union is called upon to introduce its own climate policies, just like Brazil, Canada or South Africa. . Likewise, France, whose President Emmanuel Macron is not in New York.