UN secretary-general knocks ‘climate-wrecking corporations’ in human rights remarks

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on “climate-wrecking corporations” to be held accountable through legal challenges in remarks to the Human Rights Council on Monday.

“I welcome moves towards accountability for human rights abuses at the national and regional levels, including those committed by the private sector,” he said. “Legal challenges against climate-wrecking corporations are an important step forward.”

“Fossil fuel producers and their financiers must understand one simple truth: pursuing mega-profits when so many people are losing their lives and rights, now and in the future, is totally unacceptable,” he continued.

The United Nations Human Rights Council was established in 2006, and is made up of 47 UN member states. The council has at least three sessions a year that can each be weeks-long, and it commenced its 52nd session on Monday.

Guterres also said that it is time to “stand up” for human rights everywhere, especially as the war in Ukraine enters its second year. He said advocating for human rights can solve many issues, from the climate change crisis to technology challenges.

“Human rights are not a luxury that can be left until we find a solution to the world’s other problems,” he said. “They are the solution to many of the world’s other problems.”

“From the climate emergency to the misuse of technology, the answers to today’s crises are found in human rights,” he continued. “Human rights are innate to being human.”

Guterres has been critical of the global response to the climate change crisis, saying Lin December that the international goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is “gasping for breath.”

He also said last month that the world is in a “sorry state,” citing climate change and the ongoing war in Ukraine.