UN chief warns 1.5C warming goal at risk of ‘collapsing’

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told AFP on Friday that efforts to cap global warming at 1.5 celsius above the pre-industrial level fail, while the UN was preparing to organize a climate week’s event alongside its annual diplomatic gathering.

The climatic objectives of 2035 of the countries which signed the Paris Agreement, also known as the contributions determined at the national level (NDC), were initially expected several months ago.

However, uncertainties linked to geopolitical tensions and commercial rivalries have slowed down the process.

“We are on the brink of this collapse objective,” he told AFP.

“We absolutely need a country to come … with climate action plans which are fully aligned with 1.5 degrees (Celsius), which cover all of their savings and all of their greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

“It is essential that we have a drastic reduction in emissions in the coming years if you want to keep the limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius alive.”

Less than two months before the COP30 meeting in Brazil, dozens of countries were slow to announce their plans, in particular China and the European Union, the powers considered essential for the future of climate diplomacy.

The efforts to fight against the impact of artificial global warming have taken a back seat with a myriad of crises in recent years which have included the coronavirus pandemic and several wars, guterres seeking to rekindle the question.

The UN hopes that the climate summit co -chaired Wednesday in New York by Guterres and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva will be an opportunity to bring the efforts before COP30.

Guterres said that he feared that the contributions determined at the national level, or the national climate action plans, ultimately support the objective of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

“It is not a question of panic. This is a question to determine, to exert any pressure for the countries.”

Containing global warming to 1.5 celsius compared to the pre -industrial era is the most ambitious objective of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

The intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC), which brings together the work of scientists from around the world, predicts a chance of 50:50 that the climate has warmed up on an average of 1.5 ° C by 2030-2035.

Scientists highlight the importance of containing global warming, as each fraction of a degree still increases risks such as heat waves or the destruction of marine life.

Containing warming to 1.5 ° C rather than 2C would considerably limit its most catastrophic consequences, according to the IPCC.

According to the UN, 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded.

© 2025 AFP