Guterres’ final COP speech is a wake-up call for real action on fossil fuels, says ActionAid
Press statement: For immediate release
Commenting on António Guterres’ final COP opening address as UN Secretary-General, delivered at the COP31 Leaders’ Summit in Antalya on Wednesday 11 November, Teresa Anderson, Global Lead on Climate Justice at ActionAid International, said:
“Antonio Guterres’ last ever COP opening speech brought his on-brand mix of fire, backbone and poetry in calling out fossil lobbyists’ efforts to derail climate action in the face of the collapsing economic case for fossil fuels.
“He put an urgent spotlight on the stark fact that the world is woefully unprepared to deal with the temperature rises that are now locked in. To keep everyone on the planet safe, a radically more ambitious approach to adaptation is needed, with countries working together to ensure and underwrite collective safety for all.
“Guterres also echoed key messages from UNEP’s recent report on Overshoot in effectively calling for ways that can bring temperatures back down to 1.5°C. These comments echo rumours that the COP Presidencies may mention carbon dioxide removal technologies in the upcoming COP31 cover decision.
“But while the temptation to hope for ways to reverse the harm from rising emissions is understandable, there is little chance that technologies will deliver significant amounts of carbon dioxide removal. Instead, the very fossil lobbyists that Guterres criticised are likely to use CDR endorsement to further derail real action.
“COP31 must focus on the real goal of transitioning away from fossil fuels, instead of boosting failing technologies or tree plantations on a scale that would grab land from the world’s most vulnerable.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
Contact the press office at media-enquiries@actionaid.org or on +263772616506 or +55 21 99258-5826 to arrange an interview.
About ActionAid
ActionAid is a global federation working for a world free from poverty and injustice. We want to see a just, fair and sustainable world in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity and freedom from poverty and oppression. We work to achieve social justice and gender equality, and to eradicate poverty.