G20 leaders can stop climate breakdown, but rules must change: UN chief

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said G20 leaders have the power to reset a climate crisis that is "spinning out of control" and urged them to reshape global financial rules which he described as outdated and unfair.

"The climate crisis is worsening dramatically – but the collective response is lacking in ambition, credibility, and urgency," Guterres said in a speech in New Delhi, capital city of India, which is chairing the G20 this weekend.

Guterres asked the G20 to commit to keeping the "1.5 degree goal alive" — referring to the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of limiting the global average temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and aiming for 1.5°.

"I have put forward a Climate Solidarity Pact – in which big emitters make extra efforts to cut emissions; and wealthier countries support emerging economies to achieve this," Guterres said.

The plan urges developed countries to reach net-zero as close as possible to 2040, and emerging economies as close as possible to 2050, proposing a phase out of coal by 2030 in OECD countries and 2040 in all others.

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Calling the global financial architecture "outdated dysfunctional, and unfair," Guterres said it needed deep, structural reform. "And the same can be said of the United Nations Security Council."