Colombia's Petro warns humanity advanced 'times of extinction'

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has delivered an ominous prophecy with grandiose language at the United Nations General Assembly, painting a grim picture of what lies ahead if nations fail to redesign life on this planet swiftly.

"It has been a year in which humanity lost and without hesitation advanced the times of extinction," he began his speech at the 78th session of the UNGA United Nations on Tuesday.

"It would seem as though the global leadership has made enemies with life."

Eloquent oratory is a skill Petro often deploys, and lately has done so to project himself as a global leader on the climate crisis — and to reproach others for failing to fully heed its peril.

At the UN, he said that what he called "the crisis of life" has already begun, as signalled by the migration of climate refugees, and warned that in the coming half-century, their numbers will reach three billion.

His country, today covered by lush forests, will transform to desert, he said, and its people will decamp en masse, "no longer attracted by the sequins of the wealth, but by something simpler and more vital: water."

His speech, at times, resembled literary prose, particularly his characterisation of the ongoing migration flow.

Ukraine and Mideast conflicts

Petro also called at the General Assembly for peace summits to resolve conflicts in Ukraine and between Israel and the Palestinians, so the international community could focus instead on addressing the climate crisis, which he said was "the mother of all crises."

"It would seem as though the global leadership has made enemies with life," he said, stressing that the past year of climate catastrophes and conflict had been a "terrifying indicator" that humanity is running headlong towards "extinction."

Petro proposed two UN-backed peace conferences to resolve both conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, "not because there are no other wars in the world, but because it would show how to make peace in all regions of the planet."

Addressing both "and only both, would put an end to hypocrisy as a political practice."

Climate Ambition Summit at UN

A UN climate report released this month named 2025 as the deadline for global greenhouse gas emissions to peak — followed by a sharp drop thereafter — if humanity is to cap global warming in line with Paris Agreement targets.

The 2015 Paris treaty has successfully driven climate action, but "much more is needed now on all fronts," said the report, which will underpin a crucial climate summit in Dubai at the end of the year.

Achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 — another Paris goal — will also require phasing out the burning of all fossil fuels whose emissions cannot be captured or compensated.

Top world scientists warn that the world is likely to experience new record heat in the next five years, and that global temperatures are more likely than not to breach a crucial threshold of an average 1.5 degree C rise.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has organised a Climate Ambition Summit for Wednesday, during the General Assembly, at which he hopes to accelerate the ongoing work to counter climate change by governments as well as private sector organisations and financial institutions.