The UN Secretary-General said at the conclusion of COP26 in Glasgow that there was “not enough political will to overcome some deep contradictions.“
In a statement at the end of the UN Climate Conference, Secretary-General António Guterres said it had been an extremely challenging conference.
“The approved texts are a compromise. They reflect the interests, the conditions, the contradictions and the state of political will in the world today. They take important steps, but unfortunately the collective political will was not enough to overcome some deep contradictions,” Mr. Guterres said.
“Our fragile planet is hanging by a thread. We are still knocking on the door of climate catastrophe. It is time to go into emergency mode — or our chance of reaching net-zero will itself be zero.”
Progress has been made on some issues such as ending deforestation and reducing methane emissions.
“These are welcome steps, but they are not enough,” Guterres said.
At the end of his statement the Secretary-General sent a message of hope and resolve to young people, indigenous communities, women leaders and all those leading the climate action army.
“I know many of you are disappointed. Success or failure is not an act of nature. It’s in our hands. The path of progress is not always a straight line. Sometimes there are detours. Sometimes there are ditches. As the great Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson said: “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.”