'A Tale of Two Crises' - UN Secretary-General at London Climate Action Week
Dear friends,
All protocols observed.
Thank you for your warm welcome – and Michael Bloomberg, thank you for your kind words – and for your longstanding and outstanding leadership on climate action.
You are helping turn ambition into real progress for people and planet.
Thank you for your strong voice – and I am grateful for the commitment and advocacy of so many distinguished leaders here today, starting by our mayor.
Dear friends,
Crisis brings clarity.
And here in London – the city of Dickens – it is clear that our world is facing a Tale of Two Crises.
A climate crisis pushing us deeper toward higher temperatures and closer to catastrophic tipping points.
And an energy crisis exposing the folly of a world hooked on hydrocarbons.
On the surface, these crises may seem separate.
But they share the same destructive origin:
Fossil fuels.
And they demand the same answer:
A fast, fair transition to clean energy – and a surge in adaptation, resilience and climate justice for those already facing climate harm.
Dear friends,
Crisis number 1: climate chaos is accelerating before our eyes.
We have just lived through the eleven hottest years ever recorded.
And today this city – and far beyond – are experiencing the hottest day of the year – with higher temperatures to come.
London isn’t just calling – it’s cooking.
Around the world, climate disasters are becoming more frequent, more destructive, and more costly.
And the World Meteorological Organization has warned we ain’t seen nothing yet.
El Niño is not just knocking on the door. It risks blowing the house down.
Turning up the heat. Disrupting food and water systems. And hitting the vulnerable the hardest.
Ten years ago, world leaders agreed in Paris to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Now scientists say average annual temperatures will exceed that threshold in the coming years.
The task before us is to strictly limit the overshoot, shorten its duration, and bring temperatures down below 1.5 degrees Celsius as fast as possible.
Every fraction of a degree matters.
Every moment counts.
Because the higher and longer the overshoot, the greater the risk of crossing planetary tipping points that trigger irreversible change.
Today, the United Nations Scientific Advisory Board is releasing a report on precisely what that would mean.
Coral reef systems pushed towards collapse.
The accelerating loss of ice sheets in Greenland and the West Antarctic – locking in sea-level rise that would reshape coastlines, displace millions, and threaten the existence of some island nations.
The weakening of major ocean circulation systems that regulate weather and rainfall.
And parts of the Amazon rainforest shifting toward savanna-like conditions.
Dear friends,
The Earth’s tipping points are like objects in a car mirror:
They are far closer than they appear.
At the same time, we are confronting a second crisis.
Conflict in the Middle East has unleashed the mother of all energy shocks.
The International Energy Agency tells us its scale rivals the oil upheavals of the 1970s … and the turmoil followed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Combined.
For many developing countries, this is not just an energy crisis.
It is a debt shock. A food shock. A development shock.
And I would add that any peace agreement is welcome and would bring much needed relief, but – make no mistake – the impacts are likely to be long-lasting.
Dear friends,
These twin crises have once again exposed the limits of an outdated model of development.
A model powered by fossil fuels – where a single conflict can upend global energy supply, and a single chokepoint can send prices soaring.
A model that treats nature as limitless – to be consumed without consequence.
A model that has created enormous wealth – but also deepened inequality and fueled insecurity.
A model in which those who did the least to cause these crises pay the highest price.
The lesson is clear: this model has no future.
The international community recognized its limits when it adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The world cannot go back.
We cannot double down on a system based on fossil fuels that is driving both the climate crisis and the energy crisis.
What we need, urgently, is the will to fully implement the Sustainable Development Goals.
To align prosperity with resilience.
Growth with sustainability.
And opportunity with justice.
The good news is – unlike every past energy crisis – we now have a clear way out.
A clean way out.
Renewables are the cheapest, fastest and most scalable source of new electricity in most of the world.
Since 2010, the cost of solar has plummeted by almost 90 per cent, onshore wind by more than 70 per cent, and battery storage by 95 per cent.
Last year, wind and solar exceeded all new electricity demand growth worldwide.
Solar recorded the single largest annual increase of any electricity source in history.
More than 90 per cent of new renewable power added globally is already cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternatives.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, existing renewable energy capacity saved the world economy 480 billion US dollars in avoided fossil fuel costs in 2025 alone.
And renewables avoided more than the usual carbon dioxide emissions of the US, the EU and Japan – combined.
Meanwhile, clean energy investment is attracting almost twice as much as fossil fuels.
Much of this momentum is from fossil fuel-importing countries determined to break free from unstable and unpredictable energy markets.
They understand a core truth:
Every unit of energy a country produces for itself is one less unit it must purchase from a market it cannot control...through a route it cannot protect…at a price set by events it did not choose.
There are no embargoes on sunlight and no blockades on the wind.
Dear friends,
The verdict is in:
Energy independence cannot be built on fossil fuel dependence.
Renewables are the cornerstone of true energy security.
Electrifying transport, buildings and industry is among the fastest ways to cut emissions and break reliance on imported fossil fuels.
The more economies run on clean electricity, the more secure, resilient and competitive they become.
So how do we make a clean break?
Let me point to seven steps.
First, we must act with far greater urgency to strictly limit the magnitude and duration of any overshoot beyond 1.5 degrees.
Science has laid out a clear roadmap:
Emissions must peak immediately … fall steeply this decade … and reach global net zero by 2050.
Yet the world remains dangerously off track.
The latest national climate plans would reduce global emissions by only 10 per cent by 2035.
Science tells us that emissions must fall by 60 per cent over the same period to keep 1.5 within reach.
The G20 – which is responsible for around 80 per cent of global emissions – must lead.
The principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities applies, but every major emitter must do much more.
And every country must over-deliver on its commitments.
By accelerating the shift away from fossil fuels towards clean energy – as governments committed at the 2023 UN Climate Conference.
By halting deforestation and restoring nature.
And by rapidly reducing carbon dioxide emissions from coal, oil, and gas production and consumption.
CO₂ remains the principal driver of long-term warming.
But it is also time to prioritize the cutting of methane.
Methane is responsible for around one-third of global warming.
It is some eighty times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
But unlike CO₂, methane breaks down in the atmosphere within a decade or two.
That means that aggressive cuts could produce visible temperature relief within a generation.
That is why today, I am launching a global Call to Action on Methane.
It spotlights three sectors.
The waste sector – including decisive steps to reduce food waste, end open dumping, and capture emissions from landfills and wastewater.
The agriculture sector – driving down emissions with proven solutions to advance food security and protect farmers’ livelihoods.
And a special focus on the sector that is the root cause of the twin crises facing our world … and where the most immediate gains can be made – coal, oil and gas.
I am urging the fossil fuel industry to step up and do what is long overdue.
The International Energy Agency found that around 70 per cent of oil and gas methane emissions can be eliminated using existing technology – much of it at low or no net cost.
Yet in 2025 alone, some 167 billion cubic metres of gas were flared into the sky – as much as Africa consumes in a year.
UN Environment’s Methane Alert and Response System has issued more than 5,000 alerts across 33 countries.
Yet the global response rate stands at just 12 per cent.
This is why voluntary action is no longer enough.
The world phased out leaded gasoline.
We eliminated ozone-depleting chemicals.
Methane pollution must be next.
I call on producer and consumer governments alike to set a new global standard for the oil and gas sector: near-zero methane emissions across the value chain.
Second, we must address today’s energy crisis without deepening dependence on the fuels driving it.
Around the globe, powerful voices continue to insist on more coal mines, more oil fields, more gas expansion.
This, at a time when the world will not even be able to use all the fossil fuels already accessible – let alone gamble on new supplies and infrastructure that risk becoming obsolete well before the end of their economic life.
And let’s be clear: It is not only assets that will be stranded — it is entire economies.
The growth engine of today and tomorrow runs on clean energy.
I understand the impulse, especially in periods of turbulence, to hold on to what feels familiar.
The promise of “business as usual” can sound reassuring to some.
But it means paying more for less security.
It means surrendering the industries and the jobs of the 21st century to others – while risk deepens at home.
That’s not leadership. It’s retreat.
And we must be equally clear about who bears the cost:
Working people.
Families feeling the strain with higher bills, greater uncertainty, a sense that the system is not working for them — while fossil fuel giants continue to reap extraordinary profits.
The eight largest fossil fuel companies reported pocketing an extra $6.5 billion in the first quarter of this year alone – and that only includes one month of the Middle East crisis, as oil prices continued to climb and profits to rise.
These are windfall gains born of pain – of instability, hardship and dependence.
I urge governments to tax them.
And I urge them to use the proceeds where they belong: helping vulnerable families and communities, and accelerating the shift to clean, affordable energy.
But removing harmful subsidies and incentives is not enough. We must also remove the structural barriers holding back clean energy projects.
Too often, they are simply waiting – sometimes for years – to connect to the grid.
Transmission is inadequate.
Distribution systems are outdated.
Storage is lagging behind.
Digital systems are not yet sufficiently smart or flexible.
And regional and inter-regional connections remain too limited.
If we are serious about the transition, we must treat grids as strategic infrastructure.
The age of electrification will require a massive expansion of grids, storage and system flexibility.
And we need rules fit for the 21st century.
Governments must create the conditions for investment – with modernized planning, faster permitting and regulatory reform.
Third, as demand for energy continues to rise, we must confront one of its fastest growing sources: AI data centres.
Artificial intelligence can accelerate climate solutions.
It can help cure disease, transform education, and enable humanity to tackle challenges once thought beyond our reach.
We must harness that potential.
But AI is also hungry for land, water and power.
The data centres behind it already consume more electricity than most nations.
By 2030, they could use more power than all but five countries – and enough water to meet the basic needs of all 1.3 billion residents of sub‑Saharan Africa for an entire year.
They take up land, too – often in places that see few of the benefits.
Despite these obvious concerns, communities are often left in the dark about the environmental impact of the infrastructure rising around them.
So today I am proposing the AI Environmental Transparency Initiative.
I am calling on every major AI company to measure and publicly disclose the full environmental impact of its systems – carbon, water, and land footprints – and to commit to power every data centre with renewable energy by 2030.
No more hidden costs.
No more shifting the burden onto those least able to bear it.
It is time to come clean.
If AI is to help build a better future, it must be honest about what it costs us now.
Fourth, we must deliver a just transition.
History teaches a hard lesson:
The greatest threat is not a transition itself – but the failure to manage it.
That is the risk we face today.
The energy transition is not moving in a coherent way.
Fossil fuel investment continues even as clean energy grows.
Countries are pulling in different directions.
Producers are asking: What happens to our revenues, our jobs, our economies?
Consumers are asking: Will energy remain affordable and reliable?
Developing countries are asking: Will we be able to compete – or be left behind?
And workers, communities, and young people are asking: What does this transition mean for our future?
Right now, these questions are not being answered in a joined-up way.
We need a shared, practical effort focused on delivery.
A space that brings together producers and consumers, developed and developing countries, finance, industry, labour and civil society.
A space to focus on the real issues that will determine whether this transition succeeds or fails.
How do we phase out reliance on fossil fuels while rapidly scaling up clean energy?
How do we manage the economic risks for countries that depend on fossil fuel revenues?
How do we support workers and communities through a just transition?
And how do we mobilize investment at the speed and scale required?
I will convene leaders in September to help drive this work forward in advance of the UN Climate Conference – COP31 – in Türkiye.
Because the transition itself is no longer in question.
It will be either managed or chaotic … fair or unequal … a source of stability or of greater division.
These choices are still ours to make.
The transition will be inevitable.
And I want to emphasize that clean energy cannot be built on dirty practices.
A just transition means the countries and communities whose lands hold the critical minerals of the clean energy future must fully share in its benefits.
No more extraction without development.
Fifth – and fundamentally – we must do far more to protect people and communities from the here-and-now effects of climate chaos.
Because even at full speed, we cannot outrun climate change.
Its impacts are already here – compounding and cascading.
A drought can quickly become a food crisis.
A storm can become a debt crisis.
A heatwave can become a public health emergency.
Adaptation is essential.
It saves lives, safeguards homes and communities, helps economies absorb shocks and holds societies together.
Yet adaptation has long been framed as charity.
That’s wrong.
Climate impacts are already reshaping development, stability and security.
They are straining food and water systems, disrupting supply chains, pressuring public finances, and deepening fragility.
We must respond accordingly.
Adaptation must be built into national planning and decision-making – from development strategies to regulation.
We need more effective insurance and risk-sharing systems.
We need contingency systems that can act before shocks become humanitarian and economic catastrophes.
We need better preparation before disaster strikes and to fully implement our Early Warnings for All Initiative.
And developed countries need to deliver on their long-standing commitment to double adaptation finance – with a clear trajectory toward tripling it.
That leads to the sixth point – all of this requires finance at the scale, speed, and fairness that both crises demand.
Today, the global financial system is failing the countries that need support most.
It overprices risk – and underprices opportunity.
Many developing countries face borrowing costs for clean energy and resilience that can run two to three times more than in wealthier economies.
Countries rich in renewable potential are being locked out of the clean energy revolution.
Look no further than the vast African continent.
Africa is home to 60 per cent of the world’s best solar resources. Thirty per cent of critical minerals. And one-fifth of humanity.
Yet it receives just two per cent of global clean energy investment.
At the same time, more than 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity.
This is unjust and a lost opportunity for Africa and the world.
Developed countries must keep their promises, including support to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage and the Green Climate Fund.
The $300 billion pledged to developing countries must be delivered – with concrete steps to mobilize $1.3 trillion a year by 2035.
In a world of shrinking aid, we must also unleash the catalytic role of Multilateral Development Banks and the wider development finance system to help fund long-term infrastructure such as grids, mass transit, and water systems.
Recent reforms and policy decisions have increased the lending capacity of Multilateral Development Banks by $600-800 billion.
They must use it aggressively to finance the infrastructure of the future and climate adaptation.
They must also adapt their instruments to match the scale and timeframe of the challenge, including [providing] 50-year finance where needed.
And we must go further.
The lending capacity of Multilateral Development Banks must be further boosted by their shareholders, including through bold recapitalization and further reforms.
In the face of shrinking fiscal space, every public dollar must work harder and be used more creatively to unlock private capital.
That means scaling up guarantees, local currency financing, blended finance and other risk-sharing instruments to lower the cost of capital and crowd in private investment – especially in developing countries where risks are perceived as high.
It means drawing on additional sources of finance – from solidarity levies on high-emitting sectors, to debt-for-climate swaps, to carbon market revenues, to mobilizing philanthropy.
And it means ensuring that all financial institutions – public and private – align their operations with the Paris Agreement and the realities of a warming world.
In the end, the test is simple:
We must move capital to developing countries at the speed, scale, and affordability that the times demand to respond to the climate crisis, unleash stronger more resilient growth, and advance the Sustainable Development Goals.
Seventh, and finally, we must protect science – and truth itself.
Science has given humanity the ability to understand the risks before catastrophe strikes.
Yet disinformation is spreading – deliberately – to delay climate action, entrench vested interests, and erode trust.
We must act to protect scientific independence;
Strengthen trust in evidence and institutions;
Safeguard human rights defenders and journalists reporting on climate and the environment;
And ensure everyone has access to reliable, credible and science-based information.
The United Nations has launched the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change to help do just that.
Facts matter. Science matters. Information integrity matters.
Dear friends,
Let me conclude where I began – with Dickens.
For the climate agenda, this is indeed the best of times and the worst of times.
The worst – because climate impacts are intensifying, tipping points are looming, and the energy crisis has exposed the deep risks of dependence on fossil fuels.
But also the best – because the renewables revolution is well underway.
A revolution of clean power, electrification, falling costs, rising ambition – and vast opportunity.
A revolution that can free countries from the volatility of fossil fuel markets, expand access to energy, strengthen security, create jobs, clean the air, restore ecosystems, and bring a safer future within reach.
We have the enormous opportunity – and responsibility – to turn this Tale of Two Crises into a single story of resolve, fairness and shared progress.
We can finally turn the page on fossil fuels – and write a future powered by renewables and rooted in climate justice.
This is our moment of choice. Our moment of truth. Our moment of opportunity.
Let’s seize it.
Thank you.
These remarks were delivered by UN Secretary-General António Guterres during London Climate Action Week.
