UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned at the start of Cop27 that the world is “on the highway to climate hell, with our feet still on the accelerator”.
“We are fighting for our lives – we are losing,” he said in a speech to world leaders at the start of the climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, with greenhouse gases still growing and temperatures still rising.
While the world’s attention has been drawn to the war in Ukraine, sparking energy, food and cost of living crises and other conflicts, Mr Guterres said “climate change is on a different timeline and scale”.
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“This is the defining question of our time. This is the central challenge of our century. To put it on the back burner is unacceptable, outrageous and self-defeating.”
“Today’s crisis cannot be an excuse for going backwards or greenwashing,” he warned.
The latest round of talks comes amid high geopolitical tensions sparked by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, worsening extreme weather and calls for rich countries to finance the loss and damage the climate crisis is doing to poorer ones.
Leaders including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, speaking at the summit’s opening ceremony, called for an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Speaking at a Cop27 side event, Boris Johnson warned that the fight against climate change had become a “collateral victim” of the invasion of Ukraine, with countries questioning targets to cut emissions amid soaring energy prices.
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He warned that the risk “some will be weak and wobbly” is a pledge to reduce overall emissions to zero – or net zero – in response to the crisis.
His comments came ahead of Rishi Sunak’s speech at the meeting, where the prime minister is planning to stay home to deal with domestic financial issues after what opponents called a “sharp turn”.
Mr Sunak will use his speech at the conference to call for a “global mandate for clean growth”.
He would say countries must honour commitments made at the UK-hosted Cop26 summit in Glasgow if they are to limit warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels and avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
At the same time, he will argue that the transition from fossil fuels has the potential to drive future growth in new green industries and provide jobs, while cutting off funding for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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But as he passed the baton to the Egyptians, he faced domestic criticism of the government’s decision to issue more North Sea oil and gas exploration licenses, as well as continued opposition to new onshore wind energy.
Mr Sunak was joined by leaders including US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron at a rally in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, marking his inauguration as prime minister since last month for the first time on the international stage.
