Global warming may surpass 1.5°C soon, warns UN chief

Dhaka: With just a month to go before the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that overshooting the 1.5°C target set under the Paris Agreement is now inevitable, though urgent action could limit the damage.

Guterres told media that failing to contain warming would trigger “devastating consequences,” including tipping points in the Amazon, Greenland, western Antarctica, and coral reefs.

Currently, only 62 of 197 nations have submitted climate action plans. Guterres noted that existing plans would reduce emissions by just 10pc, far short of the 60pc needed to stay below 1.5°C.

Europe has yet to deliver its plan, and the U.S., under the Trump administration, has withdrawn its previous commitment.

The Secretary-General stressed that while the 1.5°C limit is likely to be surpassed in the coming years, swift action at COP30 could contain the overshoot and keep the target achievable by the end of the century. “Much greater ambition would be required,” he said.

Guterres urged governments to give civil society, particularly Indigenous groups, a stronger voice at climate conferences, warning that corporate interests often overshadow climate priorities. 

He also reiterated that the era of fossil fuels is ending, with renewables being “the cheapest, fastest and smartest source of new power” and the only path to halt climate destruction.

His remarks follow U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech at the UN, in which Trump called the concept of a carbon footprint a “hoax” and dismissed renewables.

COP30 is scheduled to run from 10 to 21 November 2025 in Brazil.

-B