PARIS, March 21, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - UN chief Antonio Guterres said Monday 
the world is "sleepwalking to climate catastrophe", with major economies 
allowing carbon pollution to increase when drastic cuts are needed. 

   The planet-saving goal of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius is 
already "on life support," he told a sustainability conference in London. 

   Keeping 1.5C in play requires a 45 percent drop in emissions by 2030 and 
carbon neutrality by mid-century, according to the UN's Intergovernmental 
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 

   But even if nations honour newly revised pledges under the Paris 
Agreement, emissions are still set to rise 14 percent before the decade ends. 

   "The problem is getting worse," Guterres said in a pre-recorded video 
message. "We are sleepwalking to climate catastrophe." 

   "If we continue with more of the same, we can kiss 1.5C goodbye," he 
added. "Even two degrees may be out of reach." 

   His comments came only hours before the 195-nation IPCC kicks off a two-
week meeting to validate a landmark report on options for reducing carbon 
pollution and extracting CO2 from the air. 

   The report is expected to conclude that CO2 emissions must peak within a 
few years if the Paris temperature targets are to be met. 

   Guterres described covid recovery spending as "scandalously uneven" and a 
missed opportunity to accelerate the turn toward clean energy. 

   The Russian invasion of Ukraine, he added, could further derail climate 
action with importers locking in fossil fuel dependence as they scramble to 
replace Russian oil and gas. 

  - 'Addiction to fossil fuel' - 

   "Countries could become so consumed by the immediate fossil fuel supply 
gap that they neglect or knee-cap (climate) policies," Guterres said. 

   "This is madness. Addiction to fossil fuels is mutually assured 
destruction." A bombshell report last year from the intergovernmental 
International Energy Agency (IEA) concluded that a 1.5C world was 
incompatible with any new oil or gas developments, or new coal-fired power 
plants.

  Breaking with the usual practice of not singling out countries, Guterres 
called out Australia and a "handful of holdouts" for failing to lay out 
"meaningful" near-term plans to slash emissions. 

   He also said the development needs and economic structures of China, 
India, Indonesia and other "emerging economies" prevent them from making 
similar commitments, especially on coal. 

   Rich nations should provide money, technology and knowhow to help these 
emerging economies purge coal from their energy portfolios, he added, 
pointing to a pathbreaking deal for South Africa unveiled at the COP26 
climate summit last November in Glasgow. 

   "Our planet can't afford a climate blame game," he cautioned. "we can't 
point fingers while the planet burns." 

   Wealthy nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and 
Development (OECD) must phase-out coal by 2030, and all other countries by 
2040, Guterres said. 

   China and India -- both heavily reliant on coal -- have resisted a full 
embrace of the 1.5C goal, along with pressure to set more ambitious short-
term emissions reduction targets. 

   Both nations, however, have set long-term "net-zero" goals for carbon 
neutrality, 2060 for China and 2070 for India. 

   G20 countries account for about 80 percent of global greenhouse gas 
emissions. 

   A landmark IPCC report on climate impact and humanity's capacity to adapt, 
published last month, details an atlas of human suffering and warned that far 
worse is to come. 

   Unprecedented floods, heatwaves and wildfires seen across four continents 
in the last year will all accelerate in coming decades even if the fossil 
fuel pollution is rapidly brought to heel, the report concluded. 

   Guterres was addressing a four-day conference organized by The Economist.