Guterres urges nations to publish clear timelines and roadmaps to end fossil fuels

# What Guterres said

"We are the first generation with the tools to end the fossil fuel age – and the last who can avert climate catastrophe," UN Secretary‑General António Guterres said at the UN Climate Summit 2026 in New York. He demanded that countries draw up credible roadmaps with clear timelines to phase out fossil fuels.

Guterres said greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise while fossil fuel expansion persists. He described renewables as the cheapest and fastest way to add new electricity and argued the transition should create jobs and strengthen social protection, with developing countries sharing in its benefits.

# The numbers and policy asks

• G20 countries account for around 80% of global emissions and must lead the transition.
• Climate finance should reach $1.3 trillion per year by 2035, with at least $300 billion mobilized annually for developing countries.
• Guterres called for: tripling renewable energy capacity, doubling energy efficiency, faster electrification, sharp cuts in methane emissions, and ending deforestation.

# New initiatives announced

Three initiatives aim to remove practical barriers to faster decarbonization:

• Task Force on Critical Energy Transition Minerals: will begin work in Guinea, Indonesia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe to help resource‑rich developing countries capture more value, create jobs, and strengthen governance and environmental safeguards as demand for copper, lithium, nickel and cobalt rises.

• Early Warnings for All: launched in 2022, this initiative has mobilized roughly $2 billion to try to ensure everyone is covered by early warning systems by the end of 2027. More than 160 countries are receiving direct support.

# Finance and fairness

Guterres linked the energy transition to a financing revolution. He asked that developed countries lead in mobilizing funds and in easing debt burdens when disasters strike. He also called for stronger representation for developing countries in the international financial system and for measures that make polluters bear appropriate costs.

He framed adaptation finance as essential because, without it, droughts can become hunger crises, storms can become debt crises, and heatwaves can be deadly.

# Legal and cooperative context

# What this means for readers