A compromise in the deadlocked Cop30 climate summit is still possible, United Nations general secretary António Guterres has said.
Mr Guterres has arrived in the host city of Belém, Brazil, as the fortnight-long talks entered their final 36 hours.
“We are down to the wire and the world is watching Belém,” he said during a press conference on Thursday.
“Communities on the front lines are watching too, counting flooded homes, failed harvests, lost livelihoods and asking how much more must we suffer. They have heard enough excuses; they demand results.”
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Mr Guterres said decades of denial and delay on climate action meant global temperatures would now overshoot the relatively safe limit of a 1.5-degree rise by early in the 2030s.
“We know what that means – more heat and hunger, more disasters and displacement.”
The duty of all countries now was to ensure that the overshoot was as slight, short and safe as possible,” he said.
“That mission begins here in Belém ... I strongly appeal to all delegations to show willingness and flexibility.”
A long list of issues remains to be resolved at the talks. They include demands from more than 80 countries for a detailed roadmap to end the use of coal, oil and gas, after a commitment made at Cop28 in 2023 to “transition away” from fossil fuels went largely ignored.
There are also demands for action on a commitment made at Cop29 last year to increase climate funding from rich nations to poor nations after it also failed to yield results.
The Brazilian hosts presented a proposed agreement with a choice of wording on Monday, but it failed to achieve consensus. A revised wording was due to be offered on Thursday night.
Mr Guterres said he would not contemplate the talks failing.
“I am perfectly convinced that a compromise is possible,” he said.
