UN Secretary-General: The world is facing a "category five hurricane"

"The world is facing a Category 5 hurricane," UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a candid speech to political and business leaders in Davos on Wednesday.

The UN chief delivered a scathing assessment of the "deplorable state of our world" from the main stage at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos.

"Our world is being blown by a perfect storm on a number of fronts," Guterres said.

His litany of accusations included the impending global recession, the war in Ukraine, rising inequality, a rapidly growing cost-of-living crisis, high levels of debt “plaguing” weak countries, and the long-term scars left by the pandemic.

Guterres said we were "losing the battle" in the fight against global warming and that each week brought "new climate horror".

Guterres added that the commitment to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C was "fading" and that the world was heading for a 2.8°C warming.

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