UN chief calls for new 'Climate Justice Compact' to cope with climate change

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for a new "Climate Justice Compact" built on shared responsibility, urging nations at COP31 to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and mobilize massive climate financing.

"We need a new Climate Justice Compact, based on shared responsibility, shared security and shared benefits," Guterres told the UN Climate Conference Leaders' Summit in Türkiye, stressing that all countries must fulfill their obligations under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

The proposed framework rests on four pillars: speeding up a "just transition" away from fossil fuels, protecting vulnerable populations, ensuring adequate financing and choosing cooperation over geopolitical fragmentation.

To meet the 1.5C threshold, Guterres noted that global renewable capacity must triple from 2025 levels by 2035, while unabated coal power must drop by at least 75%.

Guterres urged developed nations to deliver at least $300 billion annually by 2035 and proposed taxing windfall profits from major oil companies, the nine largest of which pocketed $95 billion last quarter, to support "vulnerable countries."

Guterres warned climate disasters are “pounding lives, livelihoods and economies” globally, calling current trajectory “path to mutually assured destruction.”

"Either plan this just transition, or pay for it in chaos and lost livelihoods," Guterres warned.

Türkiye is hosting COP31, the UN Climate Change Conference, in the southern Turkish city of Antalya.