U.N. secretary-general delivers dire warning on climate change: 'Humanity has opened the gates of hell'
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Opening the Climate Ambition Summit at the United Nations on Wednesday, Secretary-General António Guterres said “humanity has opened the gates of hell” and described the devastating effects of climate change around the world. He also saw reason for hope, and urged countries to take action. “The future is not fixed," he said, "It is for leaders like you to write it.”
Video Transcript
ANTONIO GUTERRES: Our focus here is on climate solutions, and our task is urgent. Humanity has opened the gates of hell. Horrendous, it is having horrendous effects. Distraught farmers watching crops carried away by floods, sweltering temperatures spawning disease, and thousands fleeing in fear as historic fires rage.
Climate action is dwarfed by the scale of the challenge. If nothing changes we are heading towards a 2.8 degree temperature rise, towards a dangerous and unstable world. But the future is not fixed. It is for leaders like you to write it.
