HAMILTON, Canada 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday urged governments to seize what he described as a historic opportunity to confront the climate crisis, saying the world is standing at the "dawn of a new energy era."

"It is still possible to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees by century's end," Guterres said at the opening of the High-Level Special Event on Climate Action on the sidelines of the 80th UN General Assembly.

"We know what permanently breaching that limit would mean for people and the planet. The science compels climate action," he added.

Despite what he called "vast fossil fuel subsidies distorting markets," Guterres stressed that renewables are surging.

"Clean energy received double the investment of fossil fuels last year," he said, noting that "clean is competitive, and climate action is imperative."

Hailing the Paris Agreement for already making an impact, Guterres stated that "in the last 10 years, projected global temperature rise has dropped from four degrees Celsius to 2.6, if current NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) are fully implemented. Now, we need new plans for 2035 that go much further, much faster."

Looking ahead, the UN chief stressed that "COP30 in Brazil must conclude with a credible global response plan to get us on track."

Guterres also said COP30 must "show a credible path to mobilizing the $1.3 trillion annually in climate finance by 2035, as agreed at COP29 in Baku," including identifying funding sources, making finance accessible, and ensuring accountability.

Outlining five urgent areas, Guterres said: "Fossil fuels still dominate. We must supercharge the clean energy transition."

On methane, he added that "drastic cuts this decade are essential," citing the International Energy Agency's estimate that fossil fuel operations "could cut 40% of methane emissions today with no net cost."

He further warned to "end the destruction of nature's greatest carbon sinks," and pointed to progress in decarbonizing steel, cement, and heavy transport.

Regarding equity, he underlined that "developing countries that did least to cause the crisis are suffering most," and called for "effective debt relief, and scaled-up solutions like debt swaps and disaster pause clauses."

"The science demands action. The law commands it. The economics compel it. And people are calling for it," Guterres noted.