UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday issued a stark warning about the lack of progress on tackling climate change, saying mankind was on the “verge of the abyss”.
Launching the UN’s annual State of the Global Climate report in New York, Mr Guterres said humanity is “way off track” in keeping global pollution levels and rising temperatures under control.
US President Joe Biden will this week host an online climate conference with other world leaders in a renewed effort to prevent worsening droughts, storms and other types of climate chaos.
“The data in this report should alarm us all,” said Mr Guterres.
“We are on the verge of the abyss. The six years since 2015 have been the hottest on record.”
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, most world governments have pledged to keep global warming to “well below” 2°C above pre-industrial times and to strive to limit temperature rises to 1.5°C.
The planet has so far warmed by 1.2°C and is headed for at least 3°C this century – raising the risk of wildfires, droughts, floods, hurricanes and other extreme weather that could threaten global security.
“We are way off track,” said the UN chief. “This is truly a pivotal year for humanity’s future.”
He urged leaders to quickly submit ambitious 10-year climate targets, which are known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) in the Paris deal.
Countries must reach “net-zero emissions” by 2050, meaning they would emit no more carbon dioxide and other planet-heating gases than they can offset through measures such as planting trees.
Governments should stop helping fossil fuel firms and switch subsidies to renewable energy, he said.
Coal should be phased out in rich countries by 2030 and elsewhere by 2040, he added.
“No new coal power plants should be built,” said Mr Guterres.
The US and China on Sunday released a joint statement saying they had agreed to work together and do more to fight climate change.
The statement came after a meeting between Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and his US counterpart John Kerry in Shanghai on Thursday and Friday.
The talks marked a resumption of climate dialogue between the world’s two top emitters of heat-trapping gases.
Bilateral talks ground to a halt during the administration of former president Donald Trump, who withdrew from the Paris Agreement after claiming it unfairly hurt US businesses.
Mr Biden's virtual summit this week, which will be live-streamed for public viewing, comes before global climate talks in Glasgow in November.
