'Antarctica is crying out for action,' says UN chief

WASHINGTON

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday warned against the Antarctic ice melting and called for global action against "climate chaos."

"It is profoundly shocking to stand on the ice of Antarctica and hear directly from scientists how fast the ice is disappearing," Guterres told reporters during a press conference at UN headquarters on climate crisis following his recent travel to Chile and Antarctica.

He said together Antarctica and Greenland are now melting over three times faster than they were in the early 1990s.

This September, Antarctic sea ice was 1.5 million square kilometers smaller than the average for the time of year, Guterres said, adding: "And this year, Antarctic sea ice hit an all-time low. That matters for us all. What happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay in Antarctica. We live in an interconnected world."

Without changing course, the chief warned that the world heads towards a calamitous 3C rise by the end of the century.

Turning to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), which is set to start later this week, Guterres said the leaders must break the cycle.

"The solutions are well known. Leaders must act to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, protect people from climate chaos, and end the fossil fuel age. We need a global commitment to triple renewables, double energy efficiency, and bring clean power to all, by 2030," he added.

The United Arab Emirates is set to host this year’s COP28 between Nov. 30 and Dec. 12, with the aim of keeping the Paris Agreement warming target of 1.5C (2.7F) alive.

"We need a clear and credible commitment to phase out fossil fuels on a timeframe that aligns with the 1.5-degree limit. And we need climate justice - setting the world up for a huge increase in investment in adaptation and loss and damage to protect people from climate extremes. Antarctica is crying out for action," Guterres stressed.