The United Nations’ top official says the world has failed to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, the goal set by the Paris Climate Agreement to prevent the most devastating consequences of the climate crisis. Speaking with The Guardian and the Brazilian news outlet Sumaúma ahead of next month’s COP30 climate summit in Brazil, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said it’s now inevitable that humanity will overshoot the 1.5-degree target, with “devastating consequences” for the world.

Secretary-General António Guterres: “So, overshooting is now inevitable. And so it is absolutely indispensable to change course in order to make sure that that overshooting is as small as possible, and this is a basic condition to avoid tipping points. We don’t want to see the Amazon as a savanna. But that is a real risk if we don’t change course and if we don’t take a dramatic decrease of emissions as soon as possible.”

Democracy Now! will be in Belém, Brazil, covering the U.N. climate summit.