The G7, made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, along with the European Union, is meeting in the city where the first atomic bomb was dropped in 1945, a place that Secretary-General António Guterres described, as a “testament to the human spirit“.
“When I visit, I am inspired by the fashion and The Resilience of Hibakusha,” he said, referring to the survivors of the horrific act of war. “The UN stands with them. We will never stop pushing for a world free of nuclear weapons.”
Have and have not
Guterres said his message to the G7 leaders was clear and simple: “while the economic picture is uncertain everywhere, rich countries cannot ignore the fact as more than half the world – the vast majority of countries – are suffering from a deep financial crisis.”
He reiterated his view first expressed in a official visit to Jamaica last week, that the problems faced by developing countries had three dimensions; moral, power-related and practical.
Developing about “systemic and unfair bias” in the global economic and financial system; obsolete the global financial architecture; and the fact that even within the current rules, developing economies had been let down and sold short; The UN chief said the G7 now has a duty to act.
Redistribution of power
He said the financial system created by the post-World War II Bretton Woods restructuring had simply “failed to fulfill its core function as a global safety net”, in the face of the economic shocks from covid and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
He said it was time to fix the Breton Woods system and reform the United Nations Safety advice.
“This is basically a question of redistribute power in line with the reality of today’s world.”
He said the G7 can no longer be a bystander: “In our multipolar world, as geopolitical divisions grow, no country or group of countries can stand by billions of people struggle with the basics of food, water, education, healthcare and jobs.”
UN photo/Ichiro Mae
UN Secretary-General António Guterres meets Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan, at the G7 Summit in Hiroshima 2023.
“Way off track”
To highlight the dangers of overlooking the pace of climate changehe described the specific areas where the world’s richest were central to the success of climate action.
Current projections show humanity heading for a 2.8°C temperature rise by the end of this century, he told reporters, and the next five years are likely to be the warmest on record, according to latest figures from the United Nations Meteorological Agency, WMO.
He said the G7, with its enormous economic and financial influence, was “center for climate action”, which works, “but not enough and we are clearly off track”.
“Our acceleration agenda aims to make up for lost time. It requires all G7 countries to reach net zero as close to 2040 as possible, and emerging economies to do so as close to 2050 as possible.”
A climate solidarity pact calls on the G7 to mobilize resources to support less affluent economies to accelerate carbon emissions, to stay within the 1.5° limit of warming, compared to pre-industrial levels.
UN photo/Ichiro Mae
Secretary-General António Guterres joins world leaders paying respects at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.
Phase out coal
“This requires faster timelines to phase out fossil fuels and increase renewable energy. This means putting a price on coal and ending fossil fuel subsidies. I call on the G7 to phase out coal completely by 2030,” said the UN chief.
But he also called after climate justiceon behalf of the countries that have done the least to cause the crisis, but are suffering the most.
“We need to increase adaptation and early warning systems to help frontline communities… It is high time developed countries provide the promised $100 billion a year,” he added.
And he also reiterated that Loss and damage fund agreed in Sharm el-Sheikh, during COP27 last year, “must be operationalized.”
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