UN chief slams ‘climate-wrecking’ firms at human rights meeting in Geneva

Name: “I can’t see my family die like this”: The Kyoto Protocol’s impact 25 years on
Uploaded: 2023-02-27T13:59:10.000Z
Duration: 6 min 45 s
Description: “I can’t see my family die like this”: The Kyoto Protocol’s impact 25 years on

Antonio Guterres sought to tie concept of rights with environmental concerns, saying ‘the answers to today’s crises are found in human rights’

He also said fossil fuel producers must understand ‘crucial truth: pursuing mega-profits when so many are losing lives and rights, is completely unacceptable’

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a speech during the Human Rights Council session in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday. Photo: via AP

Associated Press

Published: 9:59pm, 27 Feb 2023Updated: 4:11am, 28 Feb 2023

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has stressed the importance of legal challenges against “climate-wrecking corporations” like fossil-fuel producers, ratcheting up his call for the fight against climate change – this time before the UN’s top human rights body.

Guterres opened the latest session of the Human Rights Council, part of an address that decried summary executions, torture and sexual violence in places like Ukraine; antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry and the persecution of Christians; inequality and threats to free expression, among other issues.

Guterres also sought to secure the concept of human rights – which have faced “public disregard and private disdain” – and tie them together with environmental concerns.

“Human rights are not a luxury that can be left until we find a solution to the world’s other problems. They are the solution to many of the world’s other problems,” he said on Monday, in Geneva.

“From the climate emergency to the misuse of technology, the answers to today’s crises are found in human rights.”

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“I can’t see my family die like this”: The Kyoto Protocol’s impact 25 years on

Guterres has previously said that fossil-fuel producers need to be held to account, but pressing the issue before the UN’s top human rights body – made up of 47 member countries, plus scores of observer states – raises the stakes.