The alarm from UN Secretary Guterres:«The climate emergency causes food crises and increases migration:we must act immediately"

The top United Nations official told Repubblica:«We must invest massively and globally to address the drivers of forced migration»

«We have moved from the era of global warming toera of global ebolition.And we must act now, the leaders have no more excuses."These are the words of the UN Secretary General Anthony Guteress speaking in New York.The topic of climate change is not merely limited to the climatic conditions and extreme events we have witnessed in recent days, not only in Italy.The climate issue has an impact on multiple fronts, including - just to name a few - individual and collective physical and psychological health, the work and conditions of workers, individual mobility and migratory phenomena, the increase in the possibility that develop a global food crisis, and many others.The month of July was the hottest month ever recorded in history, so far.Despite this, Guteress holds the point and, in an interview with Republic, highlights that it is still possible to slow the rise in temperatures if we can reach the goal of cutting carbon emissions by 45% by 2030, limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.And, how reiterated by the president Mattarella in recent days, it is necessary that "we become fully aware that we are late on climate change" and, consequently, on all the issues that revolve around the topic.To complicate this picture, there are also wars, such as the Russian offensive against Ukraine, and the individual decisions of leaders, such as that of the Russian president. Putin to get Russia out of the wheat agreement, risking further fueling the food crisis already underway in other countries and which is closely linked to migratory phenomena.

The food crisis

Guteress, during the interview, underlines that «global food systems are in crisis, and billions of people are paying the price.The countries presented transformation paths and shared projects.But we need to do much more, much faster.This urgency was reflected in my call to action, built around six key objectives:from the integration of food systems strategies into national policies, to the establishment of governance that brings together the public and private sectors, communities and civil society".All this by guaranteeing «accessible long-term financing, including through the reform of the international financial architecture and the strengthening of multilateral development banks».The UN secretary then underlined that "the transformation of food systems is also fundamental to putting an end to the senseless war against our planet".

There Black Sea Initiative and the impact of Russia's exit from the agreement

Guteress, clearly, adds:«I deeply regret the decision of the Russian Federation to put an end to the implementation of Black Sea Initiative", underlining that he was "deeply disappointed" by the fact that thanks to the Black Sea Initiative, over the course of 12 months, it was possible to allow "the safe export of almost 33 million tons of food from the Ukrainian Black Sea ports to 45 countries".And the UN number one specifies:«Removing millions and millions of tons of wheat leads to higher prices.The latter will be paid by everyone, in particular by developing countries and vulnerable people, but also by developed ones."«Many communities are on the brink of famine, and this terrible picture has become bleaker with the end of Black Sea Initiative from Russia", continued Guteress, who reiterated his commitment to "facilitate unhindered access to global markets for food and fertilizer products from both Ukraine and the Russian Federation, and to guarantee the food security that every person deserves ».The objective remains to "find new ways to invest in food systems that reach every person", because "starving food systems of investments means starving people".

Migration phenomena

As for migration phenomena, Guteress explains that he had a "very positive and serious discussion" with the prime minister Giorgia Meloni and, he continues, «we agreed that no country alone can face such a humanitarian challenge.It can't just be an Italian problem.It is essential that there is coordinated action within the European Union."And the UN number one specifies:«EU members must work together to limit the root causes of irregular migration, and improve the advantages of well-managed regular migration for the destination countries and for the migrants themselves», because «the Mediterranean routes, and elsewhere, are in the hands of human traffickers:a situation that cannot stand", because the tragic consequences are evident".And, concluding, Guterres declares:«We must invest massively and globally to address the drivers of forced migration:climate, food insecurity, governance and others.It is essential to offer opportunities so that people can live with dignity in their own countries."