UN climate chief calls on citizens to ‘raise their voices’ ahead of elections

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The head of the UN’s climate change arm has urged citizens to “raise their voices” over global warming as more than half of the world goes to the polls in the months ahead.

Simon Stiell, executive secretary of UN Climate Change, said there was a “disconnect” between the action ordinary people wanted governments to take to tackle global warming and the response of governments, in a speech in London on Wednesday.

In his message to “ordinary people everywhere”, Stiell said a public response was the only “sure-fire way to get climate at the top of the cabinet agenda”.

“Every voice matters. Yours have never been more important. If you want bolder climate action, now is the time to make yours count.”

Elections are to be held in 50 countries this year, including big polluters such as the US, EU and India.

In an address titled “Two years to save the world”, Stiell cited recent research by academics and Gallup that canvassed 130,000 people in 125 countries and found that 89 per cent wanted stronger climate action by governments, even as “climate action [was] slipping down cabinet agendas”.

“For those who say that climate change is only one of many priorities, like ending poverty, ending hunger, ending pandemics, or improving education, I simply say this: none of these crucial tasks . . . will be possible unless we get the climate crisis under control,” Stiell told the audience at Chatham House.

In December, almost 200 countries agreed to “transition away” from fossil fuels, the burning of which is by far the biggest contributor to global warming. At the same time, many governments have rolled back or delayed climate measures, including the UK and Germany.

Global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, setting the world on course for temperature rises of up to 2.9C above pre-industrial levels, far above the 1.5C threshold after which scientists have warned of devastating consequences for countries around the world.  

Last year was the hottest year on record, with droughts, wildfires and extreme heat affecting people around the world. Each of the past 10 months has also been the hottest on record, leaving scientists unnerved by how the world is heating up much quicker than expected.

“In living rooms around the world, climate impacts and costs are rising quickly up the list of household worries,” Stiell said.

Some politicians have blamed their rollback on climate efforts on a backlash from consumers, although others argue governments need to provide more financial support to help households pay for green measures, especially as many are still dealing with the financial effects of the pandemic, inflation and the energy crisis.

Stiell warned that as governments failed to take action on climate change the world would face supply chain disruption far worse than that experienced during the pandemic, and urged them to outline ambitious cuts to emissions when they submitted their next round of climate plans over the coming year.

The issue of how to finance the shift to a greener economy, especially in the developing world, is set to be a flashpoint between governments in the months ahead.

The G20 group of countries — which account for about 80 per cent of global emissions — must show leadership, Stiell said.

“G20 leadership must be at the core of the solution, as it was during the great financial crisis. That’s when the G20 came of age and showed [that] major developed and developing economies can work together to avert global economic catastrophes.”