UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged world leaders to take immediate steps to cut emissions, safeguard people from climate chaos, and “tear down the walls to climate finance” in response to the climate crisis.

Mr Guterres made the call in his opening remarks at the World Leaders Climate Action Summit, the ministerial-level segment of COP29, which officially opened on Tuesday in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The UN chief urged world leaders to take steps to cut emissions in response to the “masterclass in climate destruction” that the world witnessed in 2024.

Mr Guterres pointed to the proof when he noted that 2024 is almost certain to be the hottest year ever recorded.

“The sound you hear is the ticking clock. We are in the final countdown to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. And time is not on our side,” he warned.

Meanwhile, “no country is spared” from climate destruction, ranging from hurricanes to boiling seas, drought-ravaged crops, and more, all being supercharged by human-made climate change.

In the global economy, supply chain shocks raise costs – everywhere: Decimated harvests push up global food prices; destroyed homes increase all insurance premiums.

“This is a story of avoidable injustice: The rich cause the problem, the poor pay the highest price,” the UN chief said, noting that Oxfam has found that the richest billionaires emit more carbon in an hour and a half than the average person does in a lifetime.

“Unless emissions plummet and adaptation soars,” he emphasised that “every economy will face far greater fury.”

But there is every reason to hope, the secretary-general continued, pointing to the solid steps that had been taken last year at COP28 in the United Arab Emirates.

In the UAE, all countries had agreed to move away from fossil fuels to accelerate net zero energy systems, setting milestones to get there, to boost climate adaptation, and to align the next round of economy-wide national climate plans – or NDCs – with the 1.5-degree limit set at Paris.

“It’s time to deliver,” he said, stressing that a poll by the University of Oxford and the United Nations Development Programme found that eighty per cent of people around the world want more climate action.

In addition, “scientists, activists, and young people are demanding change – they must be heard, not silenced.”

The UN chief noted that last year – for the first time – the amount invested in grids and renewables overtook the amount spent on fossil fuels, and today, almost everywhere, solar and wind are the cheapest sources of new electricity.