DELHI. Sept 8 (Interfax) - Differences between countries are only growing, potentially leading to a more fragmented world and confrontation, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday.
"If we are indeed one global family, we today resemble a rather dysfunctional one," Guterres told a press conference in Delhi on Friday ahead of the G20 summit.
"Divisions are growing, tensions are flaring up, and trust is eroding, which together raise the specter of fragmentation and ultimately confrontation. This fracturing world would be deeply concerning in the best of times, but in our times it spells catastrophe," Guterres said.
The world is going through a "difficult moment of transition," and existing institutions need reform, he said.
"The future is multipolar, but our multilateral institutions reflect the bygone age. The global financial architecture is outdated, dysfunctional, and unfair. It requires deep structural reform, and the same can be said about the UN Security Council," Guterres said.
He also touched on the issue of the climate crisis "spiraling out of control." The G20 leaders have everything they need to resolve it, he said.
In particular, he called on the G20 countries to commit to further efforts to curb global temperature rises to 1.5 degree Celsius. All licensing and funding for new fossil fuel projects should stop and the transition to green energy must speed up, he said.
In addition, Guterres brought up his proposed plan on cutting emissions.
"I have put forward a climate solidarity pact, in which big emitters make extra efforts to cut emissions and wealthier countries support emerging economies to achieve this," Guterres said.
The plan calls on developed nations to reach zero emissions as close to 2040 as possible, and developing economies as close to 2050 as possible. It also proposes that the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries phase out coal by 2030 and the rest of the world do so by 2040.
Climate change will be among the topics discussed at the G20 summit due to be held in Delhi on September 9-10.