UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell is in Grenada, which is also his hometown, he has been visiting the island of Carriacou, in the wake of Hurricane Beryl. On the behalf of UN, he has delivered a video message in Carriacou – including new footage of Beryl’s impacts on Carriacou captured in recent days. There is also a text message of the video.
#UN #CycloneBeryl #SimonStiell #Grenada #Carriacou #HurricaneBeryly #Indianews #Worldnews #Oneindia #Oneindianews
#UN #CycloneBeryl #SimonStiell #Grenada #Carriacou #HurricaneBeryly #Indianews #Worldnews #Oneindia #Oneindianews
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NewsTranscript
00:00Today, I'm standing in the living room of my neighbour's house.
00:07My own grandmother's home down the street has been totally destroyed.
00:13Initial reports are that 98% of homes and buildings have either been destroyed or severely
00:20damaged by this most recent record-breaking hurricane Beryl.
00:26Coming back home in Carrefour, I and my community are experiencing the devastation that has
00:31become all too familiar to hundreds of millions of people all around the world.
00:37I'm also inspired by the resilience of people here and around the world, the survivors of
00:44climate-driven disasters, who tell me that material possessions are not as important
00:50as the air in their lungs and the safety of their family and loved ones.
00:55From the largest and most developed nations to the smallest and most vulnerable.
01:01Whether it's my home island of Carrefour, the United States, India, Kenya, or any other
01:09country on earth, what happens in the next three months, the next three years, to the
01:15families still living under tarpaulins, still in debt to the bank for a home that no longer
01:22stands as the next brutal storm, flood, or wildfire approaches, fueled by the climate crisis.
01:32Or the endless debt cycles of governments borrowing to rebuild only to face another
01:37climate-inflicted disaster, forced to borrow again and again to rebuild their battered
01:43infrastructure, to divert scarce resources from educating their children, providing health
01:49care and developing their nations.
01:53Tragically, this upheaval of lives and livelihoods from beryl is not unique.
02:01It is the growing cost of unchecked climate carnage in every country on earth.
02:07Globally, these storms have never been so powerful or so frequent.
02:14And so sudden and destructive, fires and droughts so devastating and costly in the
02:19immediate and longer term.
02:22Just in the past month, we've seen heatwaves with four-figure death tolls in India.
02:29Over a thousand pilgrims died on their hajj to Mecca earlier this year.
02:35Two years ago, one-third, one-third of Pakistan was underwater.
02:41Over thousands of people lost their lives.
02:46Millions were displaced and 3.5 million children were out of school.
02:51In the Caribbean and the USA, beryl developed a double blow of climate-driven pain, home-destroying
02:59force leaving literally millions without power in Texas alone amid health-endangering heat.
03:07These colossal climate costs have reached the level of severe national security threat
03:14in every country.
03:17These climate-driven disasters don't just cripple lives and communities when they hit.
03:23They inflict huge ongoing costs the world over.
03:28A recent report put the costs of inaction at $38 trillion a year until 2050.
03:36The same report says climate action will cost less than a sixth of that.
03:43Climate impacts have pushed down global food production and pushed up food prices and other
03:50costs of living.
03:52Beryl is yet more painful proof.
03:56Every year, fossil-fuel-driven climate costs are an economic wrecking ball hitting billions
04:02of households and small businesses.
04:04If governments everywhere don't step up, every economy and 8 billion people will face
04:11this blunt-force trauma head-on on a continuous basis.
04:18Rather than just counting the costs of climate carnage, all governments must supercharge
04:23efforts to prevent them.
04:25This means all governments must put climate action back at the top of cabinet agendas.
04:33First of all, we must stop making things worse.
04:37We must slash fossil-fuel pollution now and halve it this decade as science demands.
04:45The G20 are responsible for 80% of global greenhouse gas pollution.
04:52They must lead the way with game-changing new national climate plans due earlier next
04:58year, which deliver on the promise every country made last year to transition away from all
05:05fossil fuels.
05:07We need stronger adaptation plans, building resilience and protecting communities, economies,
05:14supply chains and company bottom lines currently getting hammered by global heating.
05:20Finally, climate action is an investment, not a cost, delivering returns on investment
05:27in new clean infrastructure and generating economic growth.
05:32Climate justice requires much bolder climate actions that deliver real economy and real-life results.
05:40Standing here, it's impossible not to recognise the vital importance of delivering climate
05:46finance, funding loss and damage, and investing massively in building resilience, particularly
05:53for the most vulnerable.
05:56The UN is working around the clock to play our part, bringing all nations together to
06:01agree bolder actions and with vital practical measures on the ground, like extending early
06:08warning systems to every person on earth.
06:12Our determination is unwavering.
06:15We will not relent.
06:18On this tiny island, as in the biggest cities of the world, I see determination also in
06:24the eyes of people from all walks of life.
06:29Determination not to take the climate crisis lying down or to accept half measures.
06:35To people around the world, we need your help more than ever to get more action from your
06:41governments and business leaders.
06:44The only way out of this is together.
06:48What the climate crisis did to my grandmother's house must not become humanity's new normal.
06:55We can still prevent that, but only if people everywhere speak up and demand bolder climate
07:02actions now, before it's too late.
07:18for Real-Time Updates.