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Climate Week NYC spotlights methane satellites and farm finance gaps

scienceSep 22, 2026394,120

Before his final UN General Assembly, UN secretary general António Guterres, who ends his second term on 31 December, said he put the climate crisis at the centre of his tenure and used his platform to attack fossil fuel companies as “immoral” and guilty of “grotesque greed.” Guterres warned scientists tell us we are approaching tipping points that could dramatically accelerate climate impacts, citing the slowing of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and the potential for a huge acceleration of sea level rise and global security problems. He said basing economies on fossil fuel imports is a severe security risk, praised a new “clean energy age,” and insisted energy security thinking must shift away from fossil fuels. Guterres acknowledged the UN secretary general has little power or money but said his duty is to use his voice “to tell the truth” and alert the international community unless emissions are drastically reduced this decade. He urged building stronger alliances beyond top political decision-makers, including grassroots groups and subnational governments, and called for modernized democratic systems and regulatory governance to prevent private interests from controlling regulators. He framed the needed response as accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to renewables and strengthening mobilization at local and societal levels.

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