Tag: Antonio Guterres

  • Coal’s a ‘silly funding’ and we are ‘sleepwalking to local weather disaster,’ says UN leader Guterres

    UN Secretary Common António Guterres photographed on the COP26 local weather summit in Glasgow, Scotland on Nov. 11, 2021.

    Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Pictures Information | Getty Pictures

    The U.N. Secretary Common issued a stark caution Monday, announcing the planet had emerged from remaining yr’s COP26 summit in Glasgow with “a undeniable naïve optimism” and used to be “sleepwalking to local weather disaster.”

    In remarks brought to The Economist’s Sustainability Week by the use of video hyperlink, Antonio Guterres sketched out an image of the place he felt the arena stood when it got here to tackling international warming.

    He famous that whilst COP26 had observed certain traits associated with problems corresponding to slicing methane emissions, tackling deforestation and mobilizing personal finance, vital demanding situations remained.

    “Protecting 1.5 alive calls for a forty five% aid in international emissions via 2030 and carbon neutrality via mid-century,” he mentioned. “That drawback used to be now not solved in Glasgow. In truth, the issue is getting worse.”

    Guterres’ reference to at least one.5 pertains to the Paris Settlement’s goal of proscribing international warming “to neatly underneath 2, ideally to at least one.5 levels Celsius, in comparison to pre-industrial ranges.”

    The Paris Settlement used to be reached on the COP21 local weather alternate summit in December 2015. Greater than six years on, it could seem that, for Guterres, an enormous quantity of labor nonetheless must be achieved.

    “In keeping with provide nationwide commitments, international emissions are set to extend via virtually 14% within the 2020s,” he mentioned. “Closing yr on my own, international energy-related CO2 emissions grew via 6% to their best possible ranges in historical past. Coal emissions have surged to report highs. We’re sleepwalking to local weather disaster.”

    On Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the wide-ranging results this can have, Guterres introduced up an similarly stark evaluate. He mentioned that “the fallout from Russia’s struggle in Ukraine dangers upending international meals and effort markets, with primary implications for the worldwide local weather schedule.”

    “As primary economies pursue an ‘all-of-the-above’ technique to change Russian fossil fuels, non permanent measures would possibly create long-term fossil gasoline dependence and shut the window to at least one.5 levels.”

    “Nations may develop into so fed on via the rapid fossil gasoline provide hole that they forget or knee-cap insurance policies to chop fossil gasoline use. And that is insanity: habit to fossil fuels is mutually confident destruction.”

    Guterres’ feedback come at a time when a number of primary economies, together with the Eu Union, are searhing for tactics to cut back their reliance on Russian hydrocarbons.

    Closing week, the Global Power Company mentioned pace limits on highways must be reduce via a minimum of 10 kilometers in line with hour (6.2 mph) to lend a hand decrease oil call for. The advice used to be a part of a much broader 10-point plan revealed via the Paris-based group.

    In his speech Monday, Guterres additionally mentioned that “the ones within the personal sector nonetheless financing coal will have to … be held to account.”

    “Their make stronger for coal now not most effective may value the arena its local weather objectives,” he mentioned. “It is a silly funding — resulting in billions in stranded property.” It used to be additionally, he argued, “time to finish fossil gasoline subsidies and prevent the growth of oil and fuel exploration.”

    “However even probably the most formidable motion won’t erase the truth that the placement is already dangerous. In lots of circumstances, and lots of puts, it’s irreversibly dangerous.”

    Coal has a considerable impact at the atmosphere and the U.S. Power Knowledge Management lists a variety of emissions from coal combustion. Those come with carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulates and nitrogen oxides. In different places, Greenpeace has described coal as “the dirtiest, maximum polluting manner of manufacturing calories.”

    Guterres speech issues to the massive activity dealing with governments world wide who say they wish to scale back their reliance on fossil fuels and save you the worst results of local weather alternate.

    Learn extra about blank calories from CNBC Professional

    In spite of the life of such objectives, fossil fuels nonetheless play an enormous function on the earth’s calories combine and firms proceed to find and expand new oil and fuel fields.

    At the intention of maintaining 1.5 alive, Guterres laid out a vast imaginative and prescient for the way this might be completed.

    Along a “fast, simply and sustainable calories transition,” the section out of coal and all different fossil fuels had to be sped-up, he mentioned.

    Different equipment incorporated specializing in adaptation, strengthening nationwide local weather plans every year and accelerating the decarbonization of sectors like cement, metal, aviation and delivery.

    As well as, probably the most susceptible required coverage and local weather finance had to be larger. “That is how we will be able to transfer the 1.5 level objective from existence make stronger to the restoration room,” Guterres mentioned.

  • UN leader requires pause in combating in Ukraine to permit protected passage of civilians stuck in battle in Sumy, Kharkiv

    UN Secretary Common Antonio Guterres on Sunday mentioned it’s “completely very important” to pause the combating in Ukraine to permit for the protected passage of civilians stuck within the battle in spaces like Kharkiv and Sumy.

    “It’s completely very important to determine a pause within the combating in Ukraine to permit for the protected passage of civilians from Mariupol, Kharkiv and Sumy, in addition to all different puts stuck in battle, and to make sure life-saving humanitarian provides can transfer in for individuals who stay,” Guterres mentioned in a tweet as Russia’s army offensive in opposition to Ukraine intensified on Sunday.

    The UN leader’s tweet got here amid Russian allegations that Indian and different overseas nationals are being saved by way of drive in those areas by way of Ukrainian nationalists.

    Russia’s Everlasting Consultant to the UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia instructed the UN Safety Council on Friday that Ukraine nationals are preserving over 3,700 Indian voters ?by way of drive? in Kharkiv and Sumy and buses from Russia are able and ready at crossing issues to visit those Ukrainian towns to evacuate Indian scholars and different overseas nationals.

    All the way through the assembly, India’s Everlasting Consultant to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti mentioned whilst the UN Safety Council discusses the nuclear measurement of an unfolding battle, it should recognize that there’s a “urgent humanitarian disaster confronting us in Ukraine, the place security and safety of blameless civilians together with a number of thousand Indian nationals, particularly scholars are at stake.”

    Ukraine’s Everlasting Consultant to the UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya instructed the Russian envoy to “please make an enchantment to the defense force [of Russia] to make sure a protected hall to permit overseas scholars go away the spaces of shock. Forestall spreading the lies! You realize it really well what’s going on there if you’re certainly involved together with your capital.”

    On Sunday, the humanitarian reaction coordinating unit below Russia’s Nationwide Protection Control Middle alleged that Ukrainian nationalists threatened Indian voters with bodily violence for his or her refusal to evacuate by way of unsafe routes to Ukraine’s western borders.

    “All the way through the evacuation of Indian voters the previous day, nationalists threatened them with bodily violence and the usage of guns for his or her refusal to be evacuated by way of unsafe routes towards Ukraine’s western borders,” Russia’s state-run TASS information company quoted the Nationwide Protection Control Middle as pronouncing.

    At a gathering with a gaggle of ladies staff of Russian airways, President Vladimir Putin on Saturday mentioned Ukraine has held greater than 6,000 overseas nationals hostage in Kharkiv.

    Requested about Putin’s feedback on Thursday that some Indians are being held hostage by way of Ukrainian forces, Exterior Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had on Friday once more rejected the declare, pronouncing India does now not have the sort of data or stories.

    On Thursday too, Bagchi rejected claims by way of each Russia and Ukraine that Indian scholars are being held hostage in Kharkiv.

    India has introduced again over 15,920 of its nationals in 76 flights below project “Operation Ganga” which was once introduced on February 26 following Russia’s army aggression in opposition to Ukraine, in step with officers in New Delhi.

  • UN leader tells Safety Council: Afghanistan ‘putting by means of thread’

    Afghanistan is “putting by means of a thread,” with tens of millions struggling excessive starvation, training and social services and products on the point of cave in and a loss of liquidity proscribing the capability to succeed in other folks in want, U.N. Secretary-Basic Antonio Guterres instructed the Safety Council on Wednesday.

    “We wish to droop the foundations and stipulations that constrict no longer simplest Afghanistan’s financial system, however our lifesaving operations.

    At this second of utmost want, those regulations should be significantly reviewed,” Guterres instructed the 15-member council.

    He once more referred to as for international locations to factor basic licenses overlaying transactions important to all humanitarian actions.

    “We wish to give monetary establishments and business companions criminal assurance that they are able to paintings with humanitarian operators with out worry of breaching sanctions,” Guterres mentioned.

    Some $9.5 billion in Afghan central financial institution reserves stay blocked outdoor the rustic and world make stronger given to the former govt has dried up for the reason that Taliban seized energy closing August.

    “We wish to jump-start Afghanistan’s financial system via higher liquidity. We should pull the financial system again from the edge. This implies discovering techniques to disencumber frozen forex reserves and re-engage Afghanistan’s Central Financial institution,” Guterres mentioned.

    In December, donors to a frozen Global Financial institution-administered Afghan Reconstruction Believe Fund agreed to switch $280 million to the Global Meals Program (WFP) and U.N. youngsters’s company UNICEF to make stronger vitamin and well being in Afghanistan.

    “We want the remainder $1.2 billion to be freed up urgently, to assist Afghanistan’s other folks live on the wintry weather,” Guterres mentioned.

    “Time is of the essence.”

    The United International locations previous this month appealed for $4.4 billion in humanitarian assist for Afghanistan in 2022. On Wednesday, it mentioned it wanted an additional $3.6 billion for well being and training, fundamental infrastructure, promotion of livelihoods and social concord, particularly the wishes of girls and women.

    The United International locations has pledged to paintings with international locations to make sure that price range don’t seem to be diverted or misused, however the U.N. particular envoy on Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, famous on Wednesday that there used to be nonetheless reluctance amongst donors to disencumber price range.

    “It’s transparent that donors, who face their very own home constituencies, are nonetheless no longer glad with the political growth in Afghanistan and are gazing carefully for encouraging indicators,” Lyons mentioned.

  • UN leader: Global extra unpredictable than all over the Chilly Struggle

    UN Secretary-Common Antonio Guterres has stated the present global is “a lot more chaotic, a lot much less predictable” than all over the Chilly Struggle between the previous Soviet Union and the US, and it’s bad as a result of there are not any “tools” to care for crises.

    He stated in a wide-ranging press convention on Friday that the Chilly Struggle used to be between two opposing blocs the place there have been transparent regulations and mechanisms to stop struggle. It “by no means become scorching as a result of there used to be a definite stage of predictability”, he stated.

    He stated he wouldn’t name the damaging scenario these days a Chilly Struggle or a Sizzling Struggle however almost definitely “a brand new type of tepid war of words”.

    As he begins his 2nd time period as UN secretary-general, Guterres stated in an Related Press interview on Thursday that the sector is worse in some ways than it used to be 5 years in the past on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, the local weather disaster and geopolitical tensions that experience sparked conflicts far and wide however in contrast to US President Joe Biden he thinks Russia won’t invade Ukraine.

    On the press convention, Guterres stated his message to Russian President Vladimir Putin “is that there will have to now not be any army intervention” in Ukraine.

    “I’m satisfied it’ll now not occur, and I strongly hope to be proper,” he stated.

    The UN leader spoke after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Geneva at the disaster over Ukraine which has noticed Moscow deploy tens of hundreds of troops on its border and Western international locations sending army {hardware} to Kyiv.

    Expectancies have been low for a step forward and there used to be none, however the best US and Russian diplomats agreed to satisfy once more.

    “What for me is very important is this discussion ends up in a excellent answer and that that excellent answer is that there’s de-escalation and this disaster ends,” Guterres stated. “This is our purpose. I’ve been pronouncing that I strongly hope that international relations will be successful.”

    Guterres reiterated within the AP interview that the U.N. Safety Council, which does have the ability to uphold world peace and safety together with by way of enforcing sanctions and ordering army motion, is split, particularly its 5 veto-wielding everlasting contributors.

    Russia and China are ceaselessly at odds with the US, Britain and France on key problems, together with Thursday on new sanctions towards North Korea.

    The secretary-general reiterated on the information convention that splitting the sector in two — with the US and China developing rival financial methods and regulations, every with dominant forex, its personal Web, technological technique and synthetic intelligence — will have to be have shyed away from “in any respect prices”.

    “I all the time advocated for the will for a unified world marketplace, a unified world economic system,” Guterres stated. “At this time second there are a variety of variations and I’ve been advocating each with the United States and China at the significance of a significant discussion and a significant negotiation at the facet of business and generation by which the 2 nations have… other positions.”

    He stated his goal is to peer the 2 main financial powers “triumph over the ones difficulties and so to determine that world marketplace by which all can cooperate and all can get advantages.”

    Guterres spoke to newshounds after presenting his priorities for 2022 to diplomats from the UN’s 193 member international locations within the Common Meeting and assessing the worldwide panorama which he known as “now not a sexy image.”

    “I see a 5 alarm world fireplace,” the secretary-general stated.

    “Every of the alarms is feeding off the others,” he stated. “They’re accelerants to an inferno.”

    He cited inequity and injustice in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, “an international financial machine rigged towards the deficient,” inadequate motion on “the existential local weather risk” and “a wild west virtual frontier that earnings from department”.

    Guterres stated a lot of these “social and financial fires” are developing conflicts and unrest around the globe, and they all are fuelling distrust and other people’s misplaced religion in establishments and their underlying values.

    “In each and every nook of the sector, we see this erosion of core values. Equality. Justice. Cooperation. Discussion. Mutual admire,” the secretary-general stated.

    He warned that injustice, inequality, distrust, racism and discrimination “are casting darkish shadows throughout each and every society” and stated all international locations will have to repair “human dignity and human decency” and “save you the demise of reality”.

    “We will have to make mendacity fallacious once more,” Guterres stated.

  • Global worse now because of Covid, local weather, battle, says UN leader

    As he begins his 2nd time period as UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres stated Thursday the sector is worse in some ways than it used to be 5 years in the past as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the local weather disaster and geopolitical tensions that experience sparked conflicts all over the place — however in contrast to US President Joe Biden he thinks Russia is not going to invade Ukraine.

    Guterres stated in an interview with The Related Press that the attraction for peace he issued on his first day within the UN’s most sensible process on Jan 1, 2017 and his priorities in his first time period of looking to save you conflicts and take on world inequalities, the Covid-19 disaster and a warming planet haven’t modified.

    “The secretary-general of the UN has no energy,” Guterres stated. “We will have affect. I will convince. I will mediate, however I don’t have any energy.”

    Earlier than he become UN leader, Guterres stated he envisioned the submit as being “a convener, a mediator, a bridge-builder and a good dealer to lend a hand in finding answers that get advantages everybody concerned.” He stated Thursday those are issues”I want to do on a daily basis.”

    For example, the secretary-general stated this week he spoke to the African Union’s envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, two times with Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, and as soon as with Ethiopia’s High Minister Abiy Ahmed in his try to get a cessation of hostilities in Ethiopia between the federal government and forces within the embattled Tigray area.

    “I’m hoping that we’re in a scenario during which it will transform quickly conceivable to have a cessation of hostilities and that’s the place I’m concentrating maximum of my efforts,” Guterres stated.

    As any other instance, Guterres stated he has additionally been at the telephone to check out to get Mali’s army leaders who lately not on time elections scheduled for subsequent month to 2026 to cut back the timetable. He stated he spoke to Mali’s army ruler, President Assimi Goita, 3 presidents from the 15-nation West African regional staff ECOWAS, Algeria’s high minister and the African Union’s chief about “learn how to make certain that in Mali, there is a suitable calendar for the transition to a civilian govt.”

    Guterres stated he hopes Mali’s army leaders will remember the fact that they want to settle for “a cheap duration” earlier than elections. The secretary-general believes balloting will have to be held in “a moderately quick period of time,” and stated: “All my efforts were in growing stipulations for bridging this divide and for permitting ECOWAS and the federal government of Mali to return to an answer with an appropriate prolong for the elections.”

    Guterres stated the UN Safety Council, which does have the ability to uphold world peace and safety together with via implementing sanctions and ordering army motion, is split, particularly its 5 veto-wielding everlasting individuals. Russia and China are regularly at odds with the United States, Britain and France on key problems, together with Thursday on new sanctions towards North Korea.

    At the factor on each nation’s entrance burner now — whether or not Russia, which has massed 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s border, will invade the previous Soviet republic — Guterres stated, “I don’t assume Russia will invade Ukraine, and I’m hoping that my trust is right kind.”

    What makes him assume Moscow gained’t invade when Biden and others imagine Russian President Vladimir Putin will ship troops into Ukraine?

    “As a result of I don’t imagine in an army answer for the issues that exists, and I believe that probably the most rational option to remedy the ones issues is thru international relations and thru engagement in severe discussion,” Guterres stated, stressing that an invasion would have “horrible penalties.”

    The secretary-general stated “we now have been involved, after all” with most sensible officers in Russia, although the UN is indirectly engaged within the Ukraine disaster.

    Guterres is scheduled to ship a speech to the 193 UN member international locations within the Normal Meeting on Friday on his priorities for 2022.

    He singled out 3 fast priorities that “are being worried me tremendously”: the loss of vaccinations in huge portions of the sector, particularly in Africa; the want to scale back emissions via 45% on this decade to check out to satisfy the world objective of looking to restrict long run world warming to one.5 levels Celsius (2.7 levels Fahrenheit); and the “extraordinarily unjust” monetary scenario on the earth that favours wealthy nations.

    Many creating nations have only a few assets, top money owed which can be rising and so they pay a lot upper rates of interest than in Europe or North The united states, don’t have any vaccines, and disproportionately “undergo the affects of local weather alternate,” Guterres stated.

    “We want a deep reform in our world monetary machine with a purpose to make certain that there’s extra justice in the way in which assets are to be had to permit for the restoration (from Covid-19) to be conceivable all over the place,” he stated.

    A mom retail outlets together with her youngsters on the marketplace in Kabul, Afghanistan on Oct 29, 2021. (Reuters)

    On any other primary factor, Guterres wired that the Afghan other people can’t be jointly punished for “fallacious issues which can be executed via the Taliban,” so it’s completely crucial to hugely building up humanitarian help “for the reason that Afghans are in a determined scenario with the dangers of deaths via starvation” and illness in a frigid wintry weather with Covid-19.

    “Greater than part the inhabitants is in determined want of humanitarian help,” he stated, and cash must be injected into the financial system to verify Afghan banks function and docs, academics, engineers and different employees are paid to forestall the rustic’s financial cave in.

    The problem of popularity of the Taliban govt is as much as member states, Guterres stated, however the UN has been urgent the Taliban, which took energy in August as US-led NATO forces have been departing after two decades, to verify human rights, particularly girls’s rights to paintings and ladies’ schooling, and to make the federal government extra inclusive and reflective of Afghanistan’s various inhabitants.

    The secretary-general stated he’s going to be attending the Beijing Olympics in February “which isn’t a political act” however “to be provide when all of the global comes in combination for just right ” for a relaxed message.”

  • Watch reside: President Joe Biden addresses the country on Jan. 6 Capitol rise up anniversary

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    WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will ship remarks Thursday marking 365 days because the fatal Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol.

    Talking from the Capitol’s Nationwide Statuary Corridor, Biden is anticipated to provide a somber speech emphasizing the risks posed to the country’s two-century-old democracy.

    “Are we going to be a country that accepts political violence as a norm? Are we going to be a country the place we permit partisan election officers to overturn the legally expressed will of the folks? Are we going to be a country that lives no longer via the sunshine of the reality however within the shadow of lies?” Biden is anticipated to mention all the way through his speech.

    “We can not permit ourselves to be that more or less country. The way in which ahead is to acknowledge the reality and to reside via it,” Biden will say.

    When requested if Biden plans to call former President Donald Trump all the way through the speech, White Space press secretary Jen Psaki instructed newshounds on Wednesday that main points of the cope with had been nonetheless being finalized.

    “President Biden has, in fact, spoken many times about how the previous president abused his workplace, undermined the Charter, and left out his oath to the American other folks so that you could amass extra energy for himself,” Psaki stated.

    Vice President Kamala Harris will make a temporary cope with ahead of introducing Biden.

    “On January sixth, all of us noticed what our country would seem like if the forces who search to dismantle our democracy are a hit: The lawlessness, the violence, the chaos,” she is going to say, in line with advance excerpts launched via the White Space.

    “The fragility of democracy is that this, that if we don’t seem to be vigilant, if we don’t shield it, democracy merely is not going to stand. It’s going to falter and fail.”

    A yr in the past, Trump inspired 1000’s of his supporters at a rally outdoor the White Space to march to the Capitol to protest the affirmation of Biden as the following president.

    Trump had many times vowed by no means to bear in mind to Biden, subsidized dozens of failed complaints and flooded his Twitter account with baseless claims of voter fraud. Twitter completely suspended his account after the rise up.

    Vice President Mike Pence, who were presiding over the depend of Electoral Faculty votes, used to be rushed out of the Senate as Trump supporters poured into the Capitol advanced.

    Hours after protesters besieged the Capitol, Trump instructed supporters in a tweeted video from the White Space “you need to pass house now.” He didn’t condemn the violence and persisted to falsely declare he gained the election.

    An afternoon later, Trump stated for the primary time President-elect Joe Biden’s management and stated in a three-minute video that “a brand new management shall be inaugurated on January twentieth.”

    More than one other folks concerned within the rise up died on Jan 6, together with Ashli Babbitt who used to be shot as she attempted to climb via a barricade. 5 law enforcement officials who defended the Capitol have died since Jan 6, together with 4 from suicide.

    Trump used to be later impeached via the Space of Representatives for inciting an riot on the U.S. Capitol. He used to be acquitted within the Senate. Trump is the one president to be impeached two times.