This is an edited extract from the speech of António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations, at the London Climate Action Week. 

The world is facing a tale of two crises. The first one is a climate crisis, which is pushing us deeper toward higher temperatures and closer to catastrophic tipping points, while the other is an energy crisis. On the surface, the two crises may seem separate, but both have the same destructive origin: fossil fuels. The two crises demand the same answer, which is a fast, fair transition to clean energy and a surge in adaptation, resilience and climate justice for those already facing climate harm.

Under the first crisis number, climate chaos is accelerating before our eyes. Around the world, climate disasters are becoming more frequent, destructive, and costly. El Niño is turning up the heat, disrupting food and water systems and hitting the vulnerable the hardest. Ten years ago, world leaders agreed in Paris to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Now scientists say average annual temperatures will exceed that threshold in the coming years. The task before us is to strictly limit the overshoot, shorten its duration, and bring temperatures down below 1.5 degrees Celsius as fast as possible.

At the same time, we are facing the second crisis: an energy crisis. Conflict in the Middle East has unleashed a huge energy shock. The International Energy Agency tells us its scale rivals the oil upheavals of the 1970s and the turmoil followed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These combined for many developing countries are not just an energy crisis but a debt, food and development shock. In this regard, any peace agreement is welcome and would bring much-needed relief, but the impacts are likely to be long-lasting.

From energy crisis to energy security

These twin crises have once again exposed the limits of an outdated model of development, and the lesson is that this model has no future. The international community recognised its limits when it adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We cannot double down on a system based on fossil fuels that is driving both the climate crisis and the energy crisis. What we need, urgently, is the will to fully implement the Sustainable Development Goals. To align prosperity with resilience, growth with sustainability and opportunity with justice.

The good news is, unlike every past energy crisis, we now have a clear and clean way out, which is renewables. Renewables are the cheapest, fastest and most scalable source of new electricity in most of the world. Since 2010, the cost of solar has plummeted by almost 90 per cent, onshore wind by more than 70 per cent, and battery storage by 95 per cent. Last year, wind and solar exceeded all new electricity demand growth worldwide. Solar recorded the single largest annual increase of any electricity source in history. More than 90 per cent of new renewable power added globally is already cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternatives. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, existing renewable energy capacity saved the world economy 480 billion US dollars in avoided fossil fuel costs in 2025 alone. And renewables avoided more than the usual carbon dioxide emissions of the US, the EU and Japan combined.

Meanwhile, clean energy investment is attracting almost twice as much as fossil fuels. Much of this momentum is from fossil fuel-importing countries determined to break free from unstable and unpredictable energy markets. Hence, the verdict is in: energy independence cannot be built on fossil fuel dependence. Renewables are the cornerstone of true energy security. Electrifying transport, buildings and industry is among the fastest ways to cut emissions and break reliance on imported fossil fuels. The more economies run on clean electricity, the more secure, resilient and competitive they become.

Seven priorities for climate action

To make a clean break, we can look at seven steps. First, we must act with far greater urgency to strictly limit the magnitude and duration of any overshoot beyond 1.5 degrees. Science has laid out a clear roadmap: Emissions must peak immediately, fall steeply this decade and reach global net zero by 2050. Yet the world remains dangerously off track. The latest national climate plans would reduce global emissions by only 10 per cent by 2035. Science tells us that emissions must fall by 60 per cent over the same period to keep 1.5 within reach. The G20, which is responsible for around 80 per cent of global emissions, must lead. By accelerating the shift away from fossil fuels towards clean energy, as governments committed at the 2023 UN Climate Conference. It is also time to prioritise the cutting of methane. Methane is responsible for around one-third of global warming. It is some eighty times more powerful than carbon dioxide. But unlike carbon dioxide, methane breaks down in the atmosphere within a decade or two. That means that aggressive cuts could produce visible temperature relief within a generation. 

That is why today, I am launching a global Call to Action on Methane. It spotlights three sectors. The waste sector, including decisive steps to reduce food waste, end open dumping, and capture emissions from landfills and wastewater. The agriculture sector, driving down emissions with proven solutions to advance food security and protect farmers’ livelihoods. And the third coal, oil and gas sector. The International Energy Agency found that around 70 per cent of oil and gas methane emissions can be eliminated using existing technology. Yet in 2025 alone, some 167 billion cubic metres of gas were flared into the sky. UN Environment’s Methane Alert and Response System has issued more than 5,000 alerts across 33 countries. Yet the global response rate stands at just 12 per cent. I call on producer and consumer governments alike to set a new global standard for the oil and gas sector: near-zero methane emissions across the value chain. 

Second, we must address today’s energy crisis without deepening dependence on the fuels driving it. The growth engine of today and tomorrow runs on clean energy. The eight largest fossil fuel companies reported pocketing an extra $6.5 billion in the first quarter of this year alone, and that figure only reflects one month of the Middle East crisis. I urge governments to tax them. And I urge them to use the proceeds where they belong: helping vulnerable families and communities, and accelerating the shift to clean, affordable energy. But removing harmful subsidies and incentives is not enough. We must also remove the structural barriers holding back clean energy projects. Too often, they are simply waiting, sometimes for years, to connect to the grid. Transmission is inadequate. Distribution systems are outdated. Storage is lagging. Digital systems are not yet sufficiently smart or flexible. And regional and inter-regional connections remain too limited. If we are serious about the transition, we must treat grids as strategic infrastructure. The age of electrification will require a massive expansion of grids, storage and system flexibility. 

Third, as energy demand continues to rise, we must confront one of its fastest-growing sources: AI data centres. Artificial intelligence can accelerate climate solutions, and we must harness that potential. But it also requires large amounts of land, water and power. The data centres behind it already consume more electricity than most nations. Despite these obvious concerns, communities are often left in the dark about the environmental impact of the infrastructure rising around them. So today I am proposing the AI Environmental Transparency Initiative. I am calling on every major AI company to measure and publicly disclose the full environmental impact of its systems’ carbon, water, and land footprints and to commit to power every data centre with renewable energy by 2030. It is time to come clean. If AI is to help build a better future, it must be honest about what it costs us now.

Fourth, we must deliver a just transition. History teaches that the greatest threat is not a transition itself but the failure to manage it. The energy transition is not progressing coherently. Fossil fuel investment continues even as clean energy grows. Countries are pulling in different directions. Right now, we need a shared, practical effort focused on delivery. A space that brings together producers and consumers, developed and developing countries, finance, industry, labour and civil society. Because the transition itself is no longer in question. The transition will be inevitable. And I want to emphasise that clean energy cannot be built on dirty practices. A just transition means the countries and communities whose lands hold the critical minerals of the clean energy future must fully share in its benefits. 

Fifth and fundamentally, we must do far more to protect people and communities from the here-and-now effects of climate chaos. Because even at full speed, we cannot outrun climate change. Adaptation is essential. It saves lives, safeguards homes and communities, helps economies absorb shocks and holds societies together. Climate impacts are already reshaping development, stability and security. They are straining food and water systems, disrupting supply chains, pressuring public finances, and deepening fragility. We must respond accordingly. Adaptation must be built into national planning and decision-making, from development strategies to regulation. We need more effective insurance and risk-sharing systems. We need contingency systems that can act before shocks become humanitarian and economic catastrophes. And developed countries need to deliver on their long-standing commitment to double adaptation finance with a clear trajectory toward tripling it.

That leads to the sixth point: all of this requires finance at the scale, speed, and fairness that both crises demand. Today, the global financial system is failing the countries that need support most. It overprices risk and underprices opportunity. Many developing countries face borrowing costs for clean energy and resilience that can run two to three times higher than in wealthier economies. Countries rich in renewable potential are being locked out of the clean energy revolution. Look no further than the vast African continent. Africa is home to 60 per cent of the world’s best solar resources. Thirty per cent of critical minerals. And one-fifth of humanity. Yet it receives just two per cent of global clean energy investment. At the same time, more than 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity. This is unjust and a lost opportunity for Africa and the world. Developed countries must keep their promises, including support to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage and the Green Climate Fund. The $300 billion pledged to developing countries must be delivered with concrete steps to mobilise $1.3 trillion a year by 2035. 

We must also unleash the catalytic role of Multilateral Development Banks and the wider development finance system to help fund long-term infrastructure such as grids, mass transit, and water systems. Recent reforms and policy decisions have increased the lending capacity of Multilateral Development Banks by $600-800 billion. They must use it aggressively to finance the infrastructure of the future and climate adaptation. The lending capacity of Multilateral Development Banks must be further boosted by their shareholders, including through bold recapitalisation and further reforms. It is important to ensure that all financial institutions, public and private, align their operations with the Paris Agreement and the realities of a warming world. We must move capital to developing countries at the speed, scale, and affordability that the times demand to respond to the climate crisis, unleash stronger, more resilient growth, and advance the Sustainable Development Goals.

Seventh is that we must protect science and truth itself. Science has given humanity the ability to understand the risks before catastrophe strikes. Yet disinformation is spreading deliberately to delay climate action, entrench vested interests, and erode trust. We must act to protect scientific independence; strengthen trust in evidence and institutions; safeguard human rights defenders and journalists reporting on climate and the environment; and ensure everyone has access to reliable, credible and science-based information. The United Nations has launched the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change to help do just that. 

In sum

For the climate agenda, this is indeed the best of times and the worst of times. The worst because climate impacts are intensifying, tipping points are looming, and the energy crisis has exposed the big risks of dependence on fossil fuels. But also the best because the renewables revolution is well underway. A revolution that can free countries from the volatility of fossil fuel markets, expand access to energy, strengthen security, create jobs, clean the air, restore ecosystems, and bring a safer future within reach. We have the enormous opportunity and responsibility to turn this tale of two crises into a single story of resolve, fairness, and shared progress.

The original speech can be accessed here.