UN chief: humanity has failed on 1.5C rise - but must still act fast

consequences. Some of these devastating consequences are tipping points, be it in the Amazon, be it in Greenland, or western Antarctica or the coral reefs.

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He said the priority at Cop30 was to shift direction “to make sure that the overshoot is as short as possible and as low in intensity as possible to avoid tipping points like the Amazon”, adding: “We don’t want to see the Amazon as a savannah. But that is a real risk if we don’t change course and make a dramatic decrease of emissions as soon as possible.”

The planet’s past 10 years have been the hottest in recorded history. Despite growing scientific alarm at the speed of global temperature increases caused by the burning of fossil fuels - oil, coal and gas - the secretary general said government commitments had come up short.

Less than a third of the world’s nations (62 out of 197) have sent in their climate action plans, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris agreement. The US under Donald Trump has abandoned the process. Europe has promised but so far failed to deliver. China, the world’s biggest emitter, has been accused of undercommitting.

Guterres said the lack of NDC ambition meant the Paris goal of 1.5C would be breached, at least temporarily: “From those [NDCs] received until now, there is an expectation of a reduction of emissions of 10%. We would need 60% [to stay within 1.5C]. So overshooting is now inevitable.”