Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUnifeed
ANTARCTICA / GUTERRES CLIMATE
STORY: ANTARCTICA / GUTERRES CLIMATE
TRT: 9:43
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 23 NOVEMBER 2023, PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE / ANTARCTICA
23 NOVEMBER 2023, PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE
1. Various shots, Secretary-General António Guterres meeting with Chile’s President Gabriel Boric and boarding cargo plane
23 NOVEMBER 2023, ANTARCTICA
2. Various shots, arrival in Antarctic
3. various shots, Guterres and Boric on Achilles ship
4. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Antarctica has been called the sleeping giant. And it is being awoken by climate chaos. Antarctic sea ice is at an all-time low. New figures show that this September, it was 1.5 million square kilometers smaller than the average for the time of year – an area roughly the size of Portugal, Spain, France, and Germany combined. The Greenland ice sheet is also melting fast – losing over 250 gigatons of ice every year. All of this spells catastrophe around the world. What happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay in Antarctica. And what happens thousands of miles away has a direct impact right here. We live in an interconnected world. Fossil fuel pollution is heating our planet, unleashing climate anarchy in Antarctica. The Southern Ocean has taken the majority of the heat from global warming.”
5. Various shots, glaciers
6. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“That means ice is melting into the ocean at record rates. Melting ice means sea levels rising at record rates. That directly endangers the lives and livelihoods of people in coastal communities across the globe. It means homes are no longer insurable. And it threatens the very existence of some small island states. Without changing course, we’re heading towards a calamitous three-degree Celsius temperature rise by the end of the century. That means losing the West Antarctica Ice Sheet almost entirely. This alone could ultimately push up sea levels by around five meters. We are trapped in a deadly cycle. Ice reflects the sun’s rays. As it vanishes, more heat is absorbed into the Earth’s atmosphere. That means more heating, which means more storms, floods, fires, and droughts across the globe. And more melting. Which means more heating. This destruction is a direct result of our fossil fuel addiction. So, as leaders gather for COP28, my message is clear: Break this cycle. And act now: to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, protect people from climate chaos, and end the fossil fuel age. We must not let all hopes for a sustainable planet melt away.”
7. Various shots, glaciers
8. Various shots, Guterres and Boric on Achilles ship
9. Various shots, iceberg
Ahead of COP28 taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Secretary-General António Guterres today (23 Dec) visited melting glaciers in Antarctica and called for countries to “act now to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, protect people from climate chaos, and end the fossil fuel age.”
Guterres said, “Antarctica has been called the sleeping giant. And it is being awoken by climate chaos.”
Antarctic sea ice is at an all-time low.
New figures show that this September, it was 1.5 million square kilometers smaller than the average for the time of year – “an area roughly the size of Portugal, Spain, France and Germany combined.”
Guterres noted that The Greenland ice sheet is also melting fast – losing over 250 gigatons of ice every year.
He added, “All of this spells catastrophe around the world. What happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay in Antarctica. And what happens thousands of miles away has a direct impact right here.”
The UN chief said, “We live in an interconnected world. Fossil fuel pollution is heating our planet, unleashing climate anarchy in Antarctica. The Southern Ocean has taken the majority of the heat from global warming.”
“That means ice is melting into the ocean at record rates. Melting ice means sea levels rising at record rates. That directly endangers the lives and livelihoods of people in coastal communities across the globe. It means homes are no longer insurable. And it threatens the very existence of some small island states,” Guterres explained.
He continued, “Without changing course, we’re heading towards a calamitous three-degree Celsius temperature rise by the end of the century. That means losing the West Antarctica Ice Sheet almost entirely. This alone could ultimately push up sea levels by around five meters. We are trapped in a deadly cycle. Ice reflects the sun’s rays. As it vanishes, more heat is absorbed into the Earth’s atmosphere. That means more heating, which means more storms, floods, fires, and droughts across the globe. And more melting. Which means more heating. This destruction is a direct result of our fossil fuel addiction.”
He concluded, “So, as leaders gather for COP28, my message is clear: Break this cycle. And act now: to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, protect people from climate chaos, and end the fossil fuel age. We must not let all hopes for a sustainable planet melt away.”
Today he will be making his way back with President Gabriel Boric to the Frei Base.
Tomorrow, he will visit the scientific base Prof Julio Escudero where he will be briefed by scientists. He will be back in New York on Sunday.
Download
There is no media available to download.
