UN Climate Chief: Mega-storms highlight need for urgent climate action at COP30

The UN system stands in solidarity with the people of Jamaica, Cuba, India, and all communities around the world facing the devastating impacts of these mega-storms and other climate-driven disasters. Safety and the protection of lives must be the first priority today, and the days ahead, with various measures set out by the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Just before Melissa, some communities in Jamaica were still recovering from Hurricane Beryl last year, which devastated my home island of Carriacou, in Grenada. I know too well how much it hurts, and what it costs to rebuild and recover from the brutal costs of the global climate crisis.

These mega-storms are a brutal reminder of the urgent need to step up climate action on all fronts, as they bring massive human and economic costs in every part of the world, and those costs grow faster and bigger each year that the world takes insufficient climate actions.

We cannot stand by and watch these disasters unfold, wrecking lives and economies on a huge scale, with more ferocity and intensity every passing year. Humanity must step up climate action on every front.

The longer nations delay with half measures, the worse the costs become, for every nation. No nation on earth is immune, though the heaviest price is paid by the most vulnerable and those that did the least to cause this global crisis.

Recent data shows humanity is making progress in the climate fight through UN-convened cooperation and national efforts, with global emissions now expected to fall for the first time, in our latest projections to 2035.  But his progress is nowhere near enough in pace, breadth or scale.

The science is clear: we can and must bring global temperatures back down to 1.5°C after any temporary overshoot, and every climate disaster we witness today is a tragic reminder of how urgent it is to limit every fraction of a degree of global heating, mostly caused by burning excessive amounts of coal, oil and gas, as well as the destruction of our forests and ocean.

At COP30, countries must come together in genuine solidarity. Delivering fully on the Paris Agreement is not just our best chance – it is our only choice for self-preservation, and to spread the vast benefits of climate action far and wide: stronger economies, more resilient communities, more jobs, better health, more affordable and secure energy to name a few.

Let's step it up together at COP30 in the Amazon and at every moment beyond.