Remarks by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the Belém Climate Summit – 10 years of the Paris Agreement NDCs and financing.
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Marking the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, Secretary-General António Guterres said, “we need an acceleration plan to close the gaps” in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) ambition and implementation, “and that acceleration must start here in Belém.”
Addressing the event, on the sidelines of the World Leaders Climate Action Summit in Belém, Brazil, the Secretary-General said, “since the Paris Agreement was adopted ten years ago, Nationally Determined Contributions have been a barometer of countries’ climate ambitions. The latest NDCs represent some progress. But we must be honest in the Summit of truth. The plans and policies on the table are still far from enough.”
He said, “at COP30, let’s renew the great promise the world made a decade ago in Paris – by kickstarting a new decade of implementation and acceleration.”
NDCs are commitments made by countries under the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change impacts.
The Belém Climate Summit took place 6 and 7 November, and brought together heads of state and government, ministers, and leaders of international organizations to discuss pressing climate change challenges and commitments.
Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix said the security situation has deteriorated sharply. “Over the past three months, the developments in South Sudan continued to move in a negative and possibly dangerous direction. Ceasefire violations are on the increase — including widespread aerial bombardments and clashes between the signatories of the peace agreement.”
Lacroix stressed that “the Revitalized Peace Agreement remains the only viable framework for long term peace and stability in South Sudan,” but warned that preparations for the December 2026 elections lack urgency. “With time running out for credible planning, key electoral decisions must be made now, not later,” he said.
He also described a worsening humanitarian emergency. “More than 7.5 million people face acute food insecurity; 28,000 are at risk of famine,” he said. “Flooding has displaced over a million. Over 1.2 million returnees and refugees from Sudan have crossed into a country already struggling to feed its own.”
“Human suffering during this volatile situation continues to mount,” he added. “Conflict-related sexual violence, arbitrary detentions, and extrajudicial killings persist, with limited accountability. I urge all parties to immediately cease hostilities and recommit to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.”
Remarks by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the thematic session on climate and nature forests and oceans.
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Secretary-General António Guterres said, “protecting forests and oceans is not charity. It is a legal and moral responsibility and smart economics” and called for “safeguarding these foundations of life; investing in nature’s recovery; And ensuring that people and planet thrive together, now and for generations to come.”
Addressing a thematic session on “climate and nature: forests and oceans” on the sidelines of the World Leaders Climate Action Summit ahead of COP30 in Belem, Brazil, Guterres said, “vital forests stretch beyond the tropics – across boreal and temperate regions. They store carbon and regulate rainfall – shielding us from floods, droughts, and deadly heat.”
He said, “we must halt deforestation by 2030 to keep 1.5-degrees within reach – protecting intact tropical and boreal forests, conserving peatlands, ending illegal logging, and eliminating deforestation from supply chains. We must also restore degraded land, with nature-based solutions that protect watersheds, reduce disaster risk, and create green jobs.”
Oceans, the Secretary-General continued, “absorb a quarter of human CO2 emissions and most of the excess heat trapped in our atmosphere. They cool the planet, underpin food security, livelihoods, and coastal protection. Yet they are warming, acidifying, and rising – threatening lives, economies, and the very existence of entire communities.”
He said, “we must enhance coastal protection and early warning systems; Restore coral reefs, seagrass and mangroves; Tackle plastic and nutrient pollution; Expand effectively managed marine protected areas – including by rapidly implementing the Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction; And deliver “30 by 30” – protecting 30 percent of land and ocean by 2030.”
The World Leaders Climate Action Summit, taking place 6 and 7 November, brings together heads of state and government, ministers, and leaders of international organizations to discuss pressing climate change challenges and commitments.
Remarks by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the Belém Climate Summit – Energy Transition Roundtable.
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Speaking at an Energy Transition Roundtable on the sidelines of the World Leaders Climate Action Summit in Belém, Brazil, Secretary-General António Guterres said, “renewables are now the cheapest source of new electricity,” but stressed that “we must go much faster – and ensure all nations share the benefits.”
Guterres said, renewables “are powering prosperity and empowering communities long left in the dark,” and noted that “every dollar invested in renewables creates three times more jobs than a dollar invested in fossil fuels – and clean energy jobs now outnumber fossil fuel jobs worldwide.”
He said, “the renewables revolution is here.”
The Secretary-General said, “scientists tell us that overshooting 1.5 degrees is now inevitable, starting, at the latest, in the early 2030s. But how high and how long that overshoot lasts depends on the speed and scale of our actions today.”
To return below 1.5 degrees by century’s end, he said, “global emissions must fall by almost half by 2030, reach net zero by 2050, and go net negative afterwards.”
Guterres called for eliminating fossil fuel subsidies; supporting workers and communities whose livelihoods still depend on coal, oil and gas; investment in infrastructure, including grids, storage, and efficiency, meeting all new electricity demand with clean power, including from the data centres powering artificial intelligence; and unlocking finance at scale for developing countries.
He said, “the pathways for each country may look different, but the destination must be the same: A net-zero world, followed consistently by a net negative world – powered by renewables.”
The Secretary-General said, “we must support developing countries to implement their commitment to transition away from fossil fuels through stronger cooperation, investment and technology transfer – and calibrated to different capacities and dependencies.”
At COP28 in 2023 in Dubai countries had agreed to transition away from fossil fuels and to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030.
The Belém Climate Summit, taking place 6 and 7 November, brings together heads of state and government, ministers, and leaders of international organizations to discuss pressing climate change challenges and commitments.
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
-AU-UN Annual Conference
-Sudan
-South Sudan / Security Council
-Occupied Palestinian Territory
-Lebanon / Israel
-Hurricane Melissa
-Shipwreck off the Coast of Malaysia and Thailand
-Senior Personnel Appointment
-Resident Coordinator – Bhutan
-Refugees / Global Winter Fundraising Campaign
-Global Cooling Watch 2025
-Briefing Tomorrow
AU-UN ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Tomorrow, the 9th African Union–United Nations annual conference will take place here at UN headquarters.
The high-level discussions will be co-chaired by Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, along with the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.
The meeting will focus on progress in the implementation of cooperation frameworks between the two organizations, but also on the joint action and challenges linked to peace, security, development, human rights and climate action.
The annual conference will conclude with a joint press conference by the Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf. This will take place here, in this room, at 3:00 pm.
SUDAN
Today, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, arrived in Sudan. In Port Sudan, he met with authorities, humanitarian partners and the diplomatic community. We’ll share more details on those meetings as soon as we can.
Mr. Fletcher continues to call for an end to the atrocities in Sudan and to support efforts toward peace. He is also working to ensure that humanitarian teams receive the access and funding they need to deliver life-saving assistance across conflict lines.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that the situation in North Darfur State remains volatile following the Rapid Support Forces’ takeover of El Fasher on October 26th. While large-scale clashes have subsided, sporadic fighting and drone activity persist, leaving civilians at risk of looting, forced recruitment and gender-based violence.
In South Kordofan State, a drone strike reportedly hit the town of Um Barmbeeta yesterday, destroying a school and injuring several displaced people. The state capital Kadugli and the nearby town of Dilling remain under siege, with widespread insecurity restricting access to thousands of families in need of urgent aid.
Our humanitarian partners report that more than 12,000 people fleeing violence in the Kordofan and Darfur regions have sought refuge in White Nile State since late October – an average of 700 each day. Displaced families face severe shortages of food, shelter and water, while host communities are overstretched.
Civilians must be protected, and aid workers must be granted safe and sustained access to deliver assistance across the front lines.
Full highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-11-11
Joint comments to the media by Alhaji Musa Timothy Kabba, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone, and President of the Security Council for the month of November, on behalf of the Women, Peace and Security, Shared Commitments Holders Members of the Security Council.
UN Deputy High Representative of the Office for Disarmament Affairs Adedeji Ebo said, “More than one billion firearms are in circulation globally. Their continued proliferation is both a symptom and a driver of the multiple security crises that our world is facing.”
Addressing the Council, he said that that firearms’ widespread availability underscores “the urgent need to address the consequences of illicit small arms and light weapons, which are far-reaching”
He reported, “persistent violations of arms embargoes in contexts such as Libya, Yemen, and Haiti, where diverted weapons are arming criminal groups and terrorist networks. These are facilitated by poorly manned borders, and increasingly by illicit digital activities.”
He also said, “We are witnessing a rise in illicitly manufactured and craft-produced arms. For example, more 3D-printed are available in illicit markets, especially in countries across Western Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean.”
He highlighted, “In 2023, the combined revenue of the world’s 100 largest arms companies amounted to $632 billion. In 2024, global military expenditure had surged to $2.7 trillion US dollars – representing a 37 percent increase since 2015.”
Roraima Ana Andriani, Special Representative of INTERPOL to the European Union, said, “The fight against the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons requires alignment between the diplomatic and operational dimensions of security. Diplomatic leadership in the multilateral arena is essential to translate political will into concrete cooperation among countries.”
Mohamed Ibn Chambas, High Representative for the Silencing the Guns Initiative of the African Union stated, “For each illicit weapon we take out of circulation, we contribute to saving lives, restoring trust, and giving peace a fighting chance.”
Arnoux Descardes, Executive Director, Volontariat pour le développement d’Haïti (VDH) said, “Today, the massive trafficking of illegal weapons and the circulation of firearms in Haiti are a source of great concern, despite the arms embargo imposed by the United Nations Security Council since 2022, along with a sanction’s regime monitored by the group of experts. However, the proliferation of weapons continues.”
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
COP30
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Sudan
Ukraine
Philippines/Super Typhoon Fung-Wong
Security Council
Science Day for Peace and Development
COP30
This morning, at the opening plenary of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, Simon Stiell, the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, said that ten years ago in Paris, we were designing the future – a future that would clearly see the curve of emissions bend downwards. He pointed out that the emissions curve has been bent downwards, but we must move much faster – both on reductions of emissions and strengthening resilience.
Mr. Stiell emphasized that we don’t need to wait for late Nationally Determined Contributions to slowly trickle in to spot the gap and design the innovations necessary to tackle it. He added that the economics of this transition are as indisputable as the costs of inaction.
As you know, the Secretary-General was in Belém last week, where he participated at the Belém Climate Summit. On Friday afternoon, he spoke at a session on 10 years of the Paris Agreement: NDCs and Financing. He said that a temporary overshoot above 1.5 degrees – starting at the latest in the early 2030s - is now inevitable. But, he added, we can manage the scale and duration of that overshoot and bring temperatures back down, if we take serious action now.
The Secretary-General called on all at COP30, to renew the great promise the world made a decade ago in Paris – by kickstarting a new decade of implementation and acceleration.
And I also want to flag that today, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) today released its latest numbers updating the recent NDC Synthesis report. It shows that new NDCs, including many received in recent days, will reduce emissions by 12 per cent in 2035. UNFCCC highlighted that every very fraction of a degree of heating avoided will save millions of lives and billions of dollars in climate damages.
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that one month into the ceasefire, efforts to ramp up aid are still being held back by red tape, ongoing bans on key humanitarian partners, too few crossings and routes, and insecurity that persists despite the ceasefire.
Over the weekend, our teams reported shelling and navy fire in different parts of Gaza – though at much lower levels than before the ceasefire.
In some areas, our teams still have to coordinate every movement in advance with the Israeli authorities. Yesterday, we made eight coordination attempts. Only two were fully facilitated, and four were impeded on the ground – including one that was delayed for 10 hours before the team finally received a green light to move.
Despite the challenges, the UN and our partners are seizing every opportunity to expand operations.
Yesterday, UN agencies kicked off the catch-up campaign for routine immunization, nutrition and growth monitoring – which we mentioned last week. UNICEF, the UN Relief and Works Agency, and the World Health Organization are carrying out the campaign with partners, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. The campaign focuses on children who missed earlier vaccination campaigns and aims to reach 44,000 children overall.
Today, WHO reported that Al Kheir Hospital in Khan Younis resumed operations last week after being forced out of service following attacks in February 2024. The agency supported its rehabilitation by restoring water, sanitation, power and structural systems, and providing essential medical equipment and medicines.
WHO also set up a new 20-bed nutrition stabilization centre at the hospital to treat children with acute and severe malnutrition. This brings the total across Gaza to seven such centres, with 70 inpatient beds in all.
Between Wednesday and Friday, our humanitarian partners provided mental health and psychosocial support services to 1,500 children and 500 caregivers in different locations across the south. They received help with emotional expression and stress reduction, with messaging on the prevention of child abuse.
Over the weekend, our humanitarian partners distributed nearly 40,000 winter clothing kits and pairs of shoes to children under 10. The UN and our partners are also distributing blankets to hospitals and other locations – including nearly 50,000 blankets between Wednesday and Saturday alone.
Since the ceasefire, over the past month, our humanitarian partners have been providing water trucking services through 2,000 locations across the Gaza Strip. They’ve also distributed 15,000 hygiene kits and restored some domestic water supply in the Az Zaytoun neighbourhood of Gaza.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2025-11-10
Video message by Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, on Leaving no one behind: Ensuring sustainable action to end violence against children.
For 77 years, we in the United Nations Security and Safety Services have safeguarded the spaces where global decisions are made. We ensure that world leaders can meet, deliberate, and act in safety and confidence. From the General Assembly in New York to major diplomatic events around the world, our presence may be quiet, but it is essential. We ensure that dialogue across peoples and nations can take place safely and effectively.
