António Guterres: »Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish«

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UN Secretary-General António Guterres

Photo: IMAGO/Lev Radin / IMAGO/Pacific Press Agency

The global community is meeting for the 27th time at the annual climate conference.

This time it will take place in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm al-Sheikh.

More than 100 heads of state and government will hold opening speeches on Monday and Tuesday, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also expected.

Read the developments in the live blog here.

What the COP27 is about

12:39 p.m .:

The international community is currently far from achieving agreed climate goals.

What is the COP27 about and can this year's world climate conference still be a success despite the bad omens?

Read the answers to the most important questions here.

Guterres urges heads of state and government to act

12.18 p.m .:

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned the heads of state and government that have arrived that they are jeopardizing the survival of humanity without increased cooperation on climate protection.

"Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish," Guterres told the plenary session of the 27th UN Climate Change Conference.

There is either a “climate solidarity pact or a collective suicide pact”.

"We are in the fight of our lives and we are about to lose," Guterres said.

But he also has a positive message: »One thing is certain: those who give up will certainly lose.

So let's fight together - and let's win.«

Climate change is "the defining issue of our time" and "the central challenge of our century," emphasized Guterres.

Many of today's conflicts have been linked to "the growing climate chaos."

The war in Ukraine revealed "the profound risks of our dependence on fossil fuels".

The war in Ukraine and other crises should therefore be "no excuse for falling behind" in climate protection.

ani/AFP/dpa/Reuters