On July 27, 2023, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, delivered a passionate speech to the press in New York. In his address, he issued an urgent call for immediate climate action and denounced the current situation as “the age of global boiling.” Guterres expressed his concern about the unbreathable air quality, unbearable heat, and alarming increase in profits from the use of fossil fuels, urging for urgent measures to mitigate climate change. This call gains particular significance following the confirmation from the World Meteorological Organization that July 2023 is the hottest month ever recorded in history.

In his speech, Guterres addressed world leaders, aiming to evoke their emotions while also requesting greater financial commitment to address the issue. He reminded the commitment of wealthy countries in the Paris Agreement to provide $100 billion annually to developing nations to combat climate change, a goal that was supposed to be achieved by 2020 but was not met. In this regard, the Secretary-General urged G20 members to establish new and ambitious carbon emission reduction targets.

Furthermore, he emphasized the need to develop credible plans to phase out coal by 2030 for OECD countries and by 2040 for the rest of the world. He also highlighted the importance of adaptation to the impacts of climate change, including building flood barriers and designing resilient cities to cope with extreme heat conditions.

Guterres pointed out that some experts believe that this July could be the hottest month in the last 120,000 years. In this regard, he underscored that human activity and the use of fossil fuels have triggered this climatic destruction, which should inspire action, not despair. Scientists agree that the unprecedented increase in heat is closely related to the release of pollutants from fossil fuels, creating a greenhouse effect that intensifies extreme weather phenomena.