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antónio guterres
Ahead of COP30, UN Report Shows 1.5°C Will Be Breached as Countries Pledge Just 10% Emissions Cut
“The truth is that we have failed to avoid an overshooting above 1.5°C in the next few years," said UN chief António Guterres. "We don’t want to see the Amazon as a savannah. But that is a real risk if we don’t change course."
Oct 28, 2025
Ahead of the United Nations' global summit on the climate emergency in Belém, Brazil, a report on countries' climate plans released Tuesday served as both "a progress update and a warning siren," one campaigner said.
According to the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Synthesis Report, governments have submitted plans to the UN that would reduce fossil fuel emissions by just 10% by 2035 compared to 2019 levels, a fraction of what is needed to keep the planet from warming more than 1.5°C above preindustrial temperatures.
The report includes climate action plans from fewer than a third of the nations that signed the Paris Agreement, the legally binding treaty demanding countries take action to limit planetary heating to 1.5°C, a decade ago.
China and the European Union have not yet submitted their NDCs ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), and in the United States, President Donald Trump ordered the country's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement for a second time earlier this year and has been pushing for more fossil fuel extraction while dismantling renewable energy projects.
The report's projection includes a plan that was submitted by the US in the last weeks of the Biden administration, which Trump has said he has no plans to fulfill.
Without officially submitting an NDC, China has pledged to cut its carbon emissions by 7-10% of their peak by 2035, and the EU has been debating a reduction of 62-72.5%.
Judging from the commitments that have been made so far, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told The Guardian and Amazon-based news outlet Sumaúma that the 1.5°C goal will be breached, at least temporarily,
"Overshooting is now inevitable," he said, noting that an international goal should now be to reverse course on emissions in time to return to the 1.5°C mark by the end of the century.
“Let’s recognize our failure,” he told the outlets. “The truth is that we have failed to avoid an overshooting above 1.5°C in the next few years. And that going above 1.5°C has devastating consequences. Some of these devastating consequences are tipping points, be it in the Amazon, be it in Greenland, or western Antarctica or the coral reefs."
Guterres said it is "absolutely indispensable to change course in order to make sure that the overshoot is as short as possible and as low in intensity as possible to avoid tipping points like the Amazon. We don’t want to see the Amazon as a savannah. But that is a real risk if we don’t change course and if we don’t make a dramatic decrease of emissions as soon as possible.”
"The success of COP30 now hinges less on the maths of new targets and more on the politics closing the ambition gap and accelerating a fair and fast transition from fossil fuels to renewables.”
The report was released a week after Brazil's government announced it was opening up the Amazon rainforest to oil drilling even as the country is set to host COP30, where campaigners hope to focus on implementing climate action plans. Earlier this month, researchers in the United Kingdom found that the world's coral reefs have been driven to a tipping point by surging global temperatures.
“Ten years on from Paris, governments are still allowing fossil fuel companies to call the shots," said Illan Zugman, managing director for Latin America at 350.org. "We see progress in words, but not yet in the numbers. Every new oil field or gas terminal wipes out the gains made in these NDCs. Just kilometers from where COP30 will take place, new licenses are being given out. Real climate leadership means drawing the line on fossil fuels now."
Steffen Menzel, program lead for climate diplomacy and geopolitics at the think tank E3G, noted that "while some developed and developing countries are providing clear examples to follow, delays and lackluster pledges from major emitters such as the EU and China have undermined the effectiveness of the Paris Agreement.”
Despite their power and resources, said World Wildlife Fund global NDC enhancement coordinator Shirley Matheson, "major G20 economies still haven’t submitted their targets with less than a fortnight to go before COP30 begins."
“While countries are making genuine progress, the gap between words and action remains dangerously wide," said Matheson. “At COP30, the G20 must stop hesitating and start delivering. It’s time to turn the slow jog into a sprint by supercharging a clean and fair energy transition. This means increasing the share of renewable energy while phasing out fossil fuels, mobilizing climate finance, and ending deforestation and the wider destruction of nature. The world can’t afford delay disguised as diplomacy.”
Andreas Sieber, associate director of policy and campaigns at 350.org, emphasized that renewables in many countries "are booming and meet all new electricity demand this year and fossil fuels are finally showing signs of peaking."
"Yet, all progress is still far too slow," said Sieber. "The success of COP30 now hinges less on the maths of new targets and more on the politics closing the ambition gap and accelerating a fair and fast transition from fossil fuels to renewables.”
Zugman stressed that many governments around the world "have the technology, the money, and the public support for a clean energy transition."
"What’s missing is political courage," said Zugman. "Until we stop funding fossil fuels and start taxing their billions, we will keep losing precious time.”
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'Particularly Heinous': UN Chief Condemns Manchester Yom Kippur Synagogue Attack
The head of Amnesty International UK implored public figures to "not stoke hatred and division but focus on the solidarity and humanity that connects us all."
Oct 02, 2025
Human rights defenders including United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned Thursday's deadly attack on a synagogue in Manchester, England on the holiest of Jewish holidays.
Two people were killed and four others seriously wounded when a man plowed his vehicle into a crowd and then stabbed worshippers at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement and repentance. The killer was subsequently shot dead by police, who are calling the attack an act of terrorism.
“Houses of worship are sacred places where people can go to find peace,” Guterres said in a statement. “Targeting a synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, is particularly heinous.”
Sacha Deshmukh, CEO of Amnesty International UK, said that the organization is "deeply saddened" by Thursday's attack.
"Acts of violence have no place in our society and only serve to deepen division among communities," Deshmukh added. "Now more than ever, it is crucial to stand in solidarity with one another and recognize that our strength lies in our diversity. It is therefore essential that politicians and the media ensure their language and actions in the coming days do not stoke hatred and division but focus on the solidarity and humanity that connects us all."
While UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer claimed that the attacker targeted "Jews because they are Jews," the killer's motives are yet unknown. The attack came as Israel continues its genocidal assault and starvation of Gaza, which have left more than 244,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing and millions more forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened.
Critics—including Jewish people—have long warned that Israel's actions endanger Jews around the world, although violent antisemitism is a scourge that was on the rise even before the genocide began in October 2023, according to groups that monitor hate.
While accepting an award from the Human Rights Campaign, actor Hannah Einbinder used her speech to strongly condemn the genocide in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/EsOaeYk7Mo
— AJ+ (@ajplus) March 24, 2025
Jewish Voice for Labour, a progressive UK group, said early during the genocide: "Israel claims to be protecting Jewish lives and accuses its critics of antisemitism. But in fact it is actually endangering Jews worldwide by associating all Jews with the deadly siege of Gaza; the illegal colonization of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights; and the continuing exile of more than 6 million Palestinian refugees in the Middle East and beyond."
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman—a Jew and longtime staunch supporter of Israel—wrote in June that "the way Israel is fighting the war in Gaza today is laying the groundwork for a fundamental recasting of how Israel and Jews will be seen the world over."
"It won’t be good," he added. "Police cars and private security at synagogues and Jewish institutions will increasingly become the norm; Israel, instead of being seen by Jews as a safe haven from antisemitism, will be seen as a new engine generating it."
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Trump Tells the UN He Does Not Like the UN
The United Nations is running short of funds, partly but not solely because of the United States.
Sep 24, 2025
President Donald Trump wants to emasculate the United Nations, but he will not leave it. Where else can he address an audience with delegations from 193 countries? And the US seat on the UN Security Council gives it a veto.
Well before his 23 September speech, Trump interfered in the UN roster, in violation of the world body's agreement with the United States as the host country.
For one, the 89-year old Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas was not granted a visa. He spoke to the Assembly by video. Then Brazilian president President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, (known as Lula) who traditionally opens the high-level debate, was unable to get visas for his health minister, Alexandre Padilha, and his justice minister, Ricardo Lewandowski. Why? Because Lula opposed former president Jair Bolsnaro, someone Trump admires, of attempting a coup.
Trump's speech received applause when he demanded the release of hostages in captivity in Gaza. But delegates let out sounds of exasperation when he called climate change a "con job."
In general, he said the United States was entering a "golden age." But Western European nations, once our allies, were collapsing because of immigration, green energy, and faulty leadership.
Trump wants to slash UN funding for the world body and its various programs and agencies. He has stopped US engagement with the UN Human Rights Council, extended a halt to funding for the Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA, and quit the UN cultural agency UNESCO. He has also announced plans to pull out of the Paris climate deal and the World Health Organization.
The United Nations is running short of funds, partly but not solely because of the United States. Whereas Washington had sponsored USAID in developing nations, the world body has to cope with more gaps than ever in meeting its obligations.
What humanitarian work does the UN do?
The UN attempts to supply aid through its agencies such as the World Food Program (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN children’s fund UNICEF, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), among others.
This does not mean just distributing food. When they are able, it hands out tents, or special "dignity" kits for women. Without a ceasefire in Gaza, many of its efforts fall by the wayside. Israel has restricted peanut butter as a luxury food. But in many other countries, the supplies continue.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres, a former Portuguese prime minister, aims to cut the operating budget by 15 percent, or $3.3 billion, and eliminate 2,681 posts. He also met with President Trump for the first time. Earlier requests had been ignored.
Of course, the staff is protesting any cuts. They have families, children in schools, and lives in New York, Geneva, or elsewhere.
The United Nations has turned into a sprawling project of resolutions, agencies, programs and agencies, initiated by member states. So calling it good, evil, or corrupt is the lazy way without investigating its projects, many of them overlapping.
One of Guterres’ major aims is to generate support for his plans to reform the United Nations and make it more responsive to the world. Because of funding cuts by the US and others (on defense spending) the UN announced last week that its regular operating budget for 2026 needs to be cut by 15% to $3.2 billion along with a 19% cut in that budget’s staff positions — 2,681 posts.
As a veteran UN correspondent, "reform" of the United Nations has been a battle cry from the United States and others for years. But no one really says what they mean.
The UN’s efforts at providing humanitarian aid are led by multiple UN agencies such as the World Food Program (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN children’s fund UNICEF, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) , the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), among others.
Who is here?
Chief UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters there will be 89 heads of state, 5 vice presidents, one crown prince, and 45 heads of government at UN headquarters this week.
Delegates spend a lot of time talking to each other, so 1642 bilateral meetings have been scheduled in a pile of temporary meeting booths.
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