UN climate chief warns of the failure of the world climate conference in Glasgow

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UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa

Photo: Omar Marques / ZUMA Press / imago images

The UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa warned a week before the start of the world climate conference COP26 in Glasgow that the meeting would fail.

When coping with the climate crisis, it is a matter of maintaining the stability of all states, Espinosa told the British "Observer".

"The catastrophic scenario would mean that we would have massive flows of refugees."

In Paris in 2015, more than 190 countries agreed on the goal of limiting global warming to well below two degrees, if possible to 1.5 degrees, compared to the pre-industrial era.

To this end, all countries should draw up action plans.

With the current plans, according to a UN report, the world is heading for 2.7 degrees global warming with catastrophic consequences.

“That would mean less food, so probably a nutritional crisis.

It would make significantly more people susceptible to dire circumstances, terrorist and violent groups. «The past has already shown what could trigger the influx of refugees.

"If we see this on a much larger scale - not just internationally, but also nationally - it will create very serious problems," Espinosa said.

The UN climate chief will jointly be responsible for leading the negotiations in Glasgow with the British host.

In the Scottish city, around 200 states want to discuss for two weeks from Sunday how the Paris goal can still be achieved.

jat / dpa