U.N. Leader Says People Power Is the Secret Weapon Against Global Warming

ANTALYA, Turkey—Despite the lack of progress toward the goal of curbing global warming, outgoing U.N. Secretary General António Guterres urged climate activists and environmental justice advocates at the United Nations COP31 climate change conference here not to give up hope.

“You pushed governments to face up to the role of fossil fuels,” he said during his speech Friday to about 800 representatives of civil society groups from around the world. “You fought for finance for communities facing the worst impacts of a crisis they did little to cause. But let’s be clear. We face powerful lobbies that are pressuring governments. So civil society must put the needed counter-pressure against that.”

Guterres, former prime minister of Portugal, said a big part of the effort is to protect future generations who can’t influence today’s decisions. He said it’s essential to “do everything to make sure that those responsible for essential decisions create the conditions for a rapid, drastic reduction of emissions.”

While cutting carbon dioxide emissions is the only proven way to stop warming, this year’s Conference of the Parties, as the meeting is formally known, once again is far from addressing the issue of fossil fuels. 

A voluntary global pledge to increase electrification holds the most promise for reducing emissions, but even that has become contentious, as some countries are resisting using the term “clean electrification,” which means producing electricity from renewables, rather than fossil fuels. Converting systems to run on electricity doesn’t reduce emissions if the electricity is produced by burning coal, oil or gas.

And there is a danger the U.N. process could backslide. Observers at some of the closed-door sessions this week said several countries, mainly Russia and Saudi Arabia, may be trying to block adoption of a final conference decision document—an outcome that could lead to the summit being widely perceived as a failure, even if such a text is not procedurally required.

All decisions and documents at the conference must be adopted by consensus, and Saudi Arabia’s 30-year history of obstructing efforts to address fossil fuels is  well documented.

Guterres’s 10-year term as U.N. secretary-general ends Dec. 31. He has been outspoken about global warming and environmental justice. Even though international cooperation on climate and other issues has deteriorated recently, he has an abiding faith that collective action can overcome seemingly intractable social and political circumstances.

That belief, he has said, is rooted in part from his experiences during Portugal’s 1974 Carnation Revolution, when citizens arose against the country’s military dictatorship to establish what has become one of Europe’s most stable democracies.

“We are losing ground to climate change because we are not doing enough,” Guterres said. “We must turn the promise to transition away from fossil fuels into clear commitments … with clear timelines and real support for the workers and impacted communities.”

Shamini Selvaratnam, director of international climate and clean energy at the Ocean Conservancy, applauded Guterres’ leadership on climate change.

“Secretary-General Guterres has been a tireless champion for climate action and a powerful voice for protecting our ocean and the communities that depend on it,” she said. “His unwavering belief that cooperation is possible, even in a deeply divided world, was the message many of us needed to hear.” 

Selvaratnam said his promise to keep up the fight after leaving office affirms that  ”none of us can give up on protecting our oceans and our planet.”