United Nations:

Humanity is suffering from an “extreme heat epidemic,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Thursday, calling for action to limit the impacts of heat waves intensified by climate change.

“Billions of people are facing an extreme heat epidemic — wilting under increasingly deadly heat waves, with temperatures topping 50 degrees Celsius around the world,” he said. “That’s 122 degrees Fahrenheit. And halfway to boiling.”

According to the European Copernicus network, July 21, 22 and 23 were the three hottest days ever recorded worldwide, with July 22 holding the absolute record of 17.16 degrees Celsius (62.9 degrees Fahrenheit).

Guterres repeated his call for humanity to fight its “addiction” to fossil fuels.

“Today, our focus is on the impact of extreme heat. But let’s not forget that there are many other devastating symptoms of the climate crisis: ever-more fierce hurricanes. Floods. Droughts. Wildfires. Rising sea levels. And the list goes on,” he said.

“To tackle all these symptoms, we need to fight the disease. And the disease is the madness of incinerating our only home. The disease is the addiction to fossil fuels. The disease is climate inaction,” he stressed, calling in particular on G20 countries to take action.

While 2023 was the hottest year on record, and 2024 could set a new record, temperatures well above 40C (104F) are increasingly common.

In the space of a year, the 50C threshold has even been exceeded in at least 10 places, from Death Valley in the United States (53.9C on July 7) to Agadir in Morocco, and also in China and India.

The intense heat, often less visible than other devastating impacts of climate change such as storms or floods, is nonetheless more deadly.

This “silent killer” is responsible for around 489,000 deaths per year between 2000 and 2019, compared with 16,000 deaths per year from cyclones, according to the UN’s “Call to Action” document published on Thursday.

Workers exposed

Extremely high temperatures also have an economic impact, with the UN estimating economic losses from heat stress at work will reach $2.4 trillion in 2030.

According to a report by the International Labor Organization published on Thursday, more than 70 percent of workers were exposed to excessive heat in 2020, 8.8 percent more than in 2000.

“The good news is that we can save lives and we can limit its impact,” Guterres said Thursday.

The UN has called for the world community to first act to protect “the most vulnerable” — including young children, the elderly and also humanity’s poorest.

In this context, early warning systems should include extreme heat, warning populations of the arrival of heat waves and informing them of the precautions to take, the document says.

The call to action also recommends an “increase (to) equitable access to and scale up (of) low-carbon cooling.”

This would involve investing in passive cooling systems — which include climate-sensitive urban design measures, reflective surfaces and natural cooling systems — and the phase-out of climate-warming gases that are used in many cooling systems.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Cairo, Egypt:

UN chief Antonio Guterres pleaded Saturday for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in the war between Israel and Hamas militants that has devastated much of Gaza, demanding “action to end this godawful nightmare”.

Addressing a Cairo summit as the conflict raged into its third week, Antonio Guterres said the Palestinian enclave of 2.4 million people was living through “a humanitarian catastrophe” with thousands dead and more than a million displaced. 

“We meet in the heart of a region that is reeling in pain and one step from the precipice,” he told the meeting that included the leaders of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates as well as of Italy and Spain and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

The bloodshed began on October 7 when Hamas group killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death on the first day of the raid, and took more than 200 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

Israel says around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in clashes before its army regained control of the area under attack.

Israel has hit back with a relentless bombing campaign, killing more than 4,300 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, and cut off supplies of water, electricity, fuel and food.

Antonio Guterres said “the grievances of the Palestinian people are legitimate and long” after “56 years of occupation with no end in sight” but stressed that “nothing can justify the reprehensible assault by Hamas that terrorised Israeli civilians”. 

He then stressed that “those abhorrent attacks can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people”.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II called for “an immediate end to the war on Gaza” and condemned what he labelled “global silence” on Palestinian death and suffering. 

“The message the Arab world is hearing is loud and clear: Palestinian lives matter less than Israeli ones. Our lives matter less than other lives,” he charged. 

“The application of international law is optional. And human rights have boundaries — they stop at borders, they stop at races, and they stop at religions.”

– ‘We will not leave’ –

The summit came on the day a first convoy of aid trucks rumbled into southern Gaza, which Antonio Guterres said needed to be rapidly scaled up, with “much more” help sent through.

The UN has said that about 100 trucks per day are needed to meet worsening needs in Gaza.

The Palestinians need “a continuous delivery of aid to Gaza at the scale that is needed”, the UN chief told the Cairo “Summit for Peace”.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi argued that the “only solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is “justice” and said that “Palestinians must realise their legitimate rights to self-determination” and have “an independent state on their land”.

Mahmud Abbas stressed his demand for a two-state solution and an “end to Israel’s occupation” and rejected what he has warned could be a “second Nakba” — a reference to the more than 760,000 Palestinians who fled or were driven from their lands during the creation of the state of Israel.

“We will not leave,” he repeated three times at the end of his speech.

Cairo and Amman have repeatedly rejected calls for large numbers of refugees to enter Egypt from Gaza, warning that a “forced displacement” of Palestinians would lead to the “eradication the Palestinian cause”.

Egypt and Jordan were the first Arab states to normalise relations with Israel, in 1979 and 1994 respectively, and have since been key mediators between Israeli and Palestinian officials.

Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan urged for the current conflict to become, “rather than a regional conflagration, a breeding ground for a just and lasting peace”.

He also condemned “unconditional military aid to Israel which only serves to maintain the occupation”, while Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan condemned the failure of the UN Security Council to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire after a US veto.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Friday said he is not very hopeful that there will be a peace solution in the immediate future for the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Addressing a press conference here ahead of the G20 summit, Antonio Guterres said the two countries still do not appear to be ending the conflict.

Asked whether India could mediate to end the war, he said, “When you have a conflict, all efforts of mediation are welcome…. (But) I am not very hopeful that we will have a peace solution in the immediate future.” On the need for reforms to multilateral institutions, Antonio Guterres said when these multilateral institutions were created, many of the countries of today did not even exist.

“This is true for the UNSC and many others,” he said.

Asked whether it was time for India to become a member of the UNSC, Antonio Guterres said, “It is not for me to decide who would be in the UNSC, it is for the members (to decide).” “But it is obvious that India is today the country of the world with the largest population and it is a very important partner in the multilateral system.”

“All I can say is that I believe that we need reforms in the multilateral system to reflect today’s world,” he added.

Asked whether there should be a timeline for reforms to the multilateral institutions, Antonio Guterres said, “There is a need to do it, but I am not sure if we get it. But I think it is urgent.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

A day after an official said the United Nations Secretary General has been a “strong advocate” for India getting a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, Antonio Guterres has said in New Delhi that the institution needs deep structural reform. 

Stating that the world is in a difficult moment of transition, Mr Guterres, who is in the country for the G20 Summit, called upon leaders of the prestigious economic grouping to show leadership in two key areas – climate and saving Sustainable Development Goals.  

In a press briefing ahead of the summit, the UN chief said, “Let me begin by expressing my gratitude to India for the warm welcome, and my hope that India’s presidency of the G20 will help lead to the kind of transformative change our world so desperately needs.”

Mr Guterres said India has been doing everything possible to fully represent the interests of the Global South in the preparation of the summit. “I think it is fair to say that India has indeed corresponded to its promise not only to speak on behalf of the Global South but to put the development agenda in the centre of the G20 work,” he said. 

‘Phrase Inspired By Maha Upanishad‘

“I welcome the focus on ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’. This phrase inspired by the Maha Upanishad finds profound resonance in today’s world: not just as a timeless ideal – but as an indictment of our times,” he added. 

Mr Guterres observed that if the world is indeed one global family, it is now resembling a rather dysfunctional one. “Divisions are growing, tensions are flaring up, and trust is eroding, which together raise the spectre of fragmentation, and ultimately, confrontation. This fracturing would be deeply concerning in the best of times, but in our times, it spells catastrophe,” he rued.

Security Council Reform

Pointing out that the world is “in a difficult moment of transition”, Mr Guterres said the future is multipolar, but multilateral institutions reflect a bygone age. “The global financial architecture is outdated, dysfunctional, and unfair. It requires deep, structural reform. And the same can be said of the United Nations Security Council,” he said.

Responding to a question on whether he thinks India is a strong contender to become part of the UN Security Council, Mr Guterres said, “It is not for me to decide who will be in the Security Council, it is for member states. It is obvious that India is today the country with the largest population and it is obvious that India is a very important partner in the world multilateral system. It is for me to say that I believe we need the reform of the Security Council to reflect the realities of today’s world.”

The UN chief asserted that the world needs effective international institutions which are rooted in 21st-century realities and based on the UN Charter and international law.

“That is why I have been advocating for bold steps to make those global institutions truly universal and representative of today’s realities, and more responsive to the needs of developing economies,” he said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ASEAN-India Summit and East Asia Summit in Jakarta on Thursday, Mr Guterres’ spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, had said that the UN chief has been a “strong advocate” for India getting a permanent seat at the council. 

In an exclusive interview with NDTV last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had also pushed for UNSC reforms. “At some stage, the members themselves have to wake up to the realisation that the longer they put off reforms, the less representative the security council is, frankly the less the credibility of the UN would be. People will then go and do things outside the UN,” he had said. 

‘Challenges Galore’

The UN Secretary-General said the world has no time to lose and that “challenges stretch as far as the eye can see”.

Listing out some of the challenges, Mr Guterres said, “The climate crisis is worsening dramatically but the collective response is lacking in ambition, credibility, and urgency. Wars and conflicts are multiplying – but efforts to advance peace are faltering. New technologies are raising red flags – but actions to contain the risks remain too slow,  and too piecemeal.”

He pointed out that poverty, hunger, and inequality are growing, but global solidarity is missing in action.

‘Climate Breakdown’

“I have come to the G20 with a simple but urgent appeal: we cannot go on like this. We must come together and act together for the common good,” Mr Guterres said. 

He urged G20 leaders to show leadership in two priority areas, with the first being climate. 

“The climate crisis is spiralling out of control. But G20 countries are in control. Together, G20 countries are responsible for 80% of global emissions. Half-measures will not prevent full climate breakdown,” he said.

Mr Guterres said the world has to keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, which was decided in the Paris Agreement in 2015, alive. He also called for rebuilding trust based on climate justice, and advancing a just and equitable transition to a green economy.  

“I have put forward a Climate Solidarity Pact – in which big emitters make extra efforts to cut emissions, and wealthier countries support emerging economies to achieve this… Leadership also means finally delivering on commitments to developing countries – including by meeting the $100-billion goal, doubling adaptation finance, replenishing the Green Climate Fund, and operationalising the loss and damage fund,” he said.

Sustainable Development 

The UN chief said the G20 must also show leadership in saving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and suggested a few measures that, he claimed, would yield immediate benefits.  

The measures included an SDG Stimulus of at least $500 billion per year, and a meaningful capitalisation and change in the business model of multilateral development banks to be able “to massively leverage private finance”.

Mr Guterres said these actions would catalyse SDG progress and help developing economies invest in key transitions across energy, food systems, digital, education, health, decent jobs and social protection.

“All of this is within reach – but it will take all hands. No nation, no region, no group – not even the G20 – can do it alone. We must act together as one family to save our one earth and safeguard our one future,” he said.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Asked whether India has the credibility to be a mediator in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the UN chief said, “I think that when you have a conflict, all efforts of mediation are extremely important… I am not very hopeful that we will have a peace solution in the immediate future. I believe the two parties have still decided to move on with the conflict.”