The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterresalerted world leaders this Wednesday that “we have opened the gates of hell“by not acting decisively against the climate changeduring a summit on the occasion of the United Nations General Assembly being held in New York.

“Fire has terrible effects. Farmers watch with horror how floods wash away their crops. The sweltering temperatures They give birth to diseases. And thousands flee in fear as the floods spread. historic fires“he said in his opening speech at the Climate Ambition Summit.

But the Portuguese did not stop there. He trusted that there is still time to limit the rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial limits, but to do so we must end the millionaire subsidies for fossil energies and taxing carbonamong other measures.

Guterres was especially critical of companies that, in his words, have “tried to block” the energy transition to a zero-emissions economy, “using their wealth and influence to delay, distract and deceive.”

He also showed sympathy towards less industrialized countries, which are suffering the most devastating impacts of a climate crisis to which they have not contributed, and which are stuck in an unsustainable debt situation with the richest nations.

Therefore, Guterres repeated his demand that countries reform multilateral development banks so that they offer more private financing opportunities to developing countries at reasonable costs.

He also called for rich nations to fulfill their commitment to dedicate 100 billion dollars annually to mitigate the effects of climate change in poor countries, which was agreed in 2009 and has not been implemented so far.

“A summit will not change the world“Guterres acknowledged, although he trusted that his initiative can generate new momentum to advance international climate goals.

The UN Climate Ambition Summit will take place throughout today, within the framework of the High Level Week of the United Nations Assembly, which is taking place these days in New York.

During the event, the organization hopes to shine the spotlight on the countries that are making the greatest progress on the climate issue and propose examples to accelerate the energy transition in the world.