World leaders gathered in Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday for the United Nation’s annual summit on climate change.
In his opening remarks, Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi described planet Earth as “a world of suffering” and asked, “Is it not high time today to put an end to all this?”
“There is no time to slip back. There is no space for hesitation,” El-Sisi said adding that for the sake of future generations, it was a last chance for everyone to meet their responsibilities.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, for his part, warned that the world was on the “highway to climate hell”.
Guterres also said that climate change is the defining issue of our century.
“It is unacceptable, outrageous and self-defeating to put it on the back burner,” he said.
The UN chief warned that the world was fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos “irreversible.”
“Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish,” he said. “It is either a Climate Solidarity Pact, or a Collective Suicide Pact.”
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said climate change affects stability and security in the world.
He issued an “open invitation to find practical solutions to address losses and creating sustainable economic growth for all humanity.”
“The future of future generations depends on the steps we take today,” he stressed.
