The head of the UN climate change conference has called on governments around the world to take urgent action to combat global warming after his grandmother’s house on the Caribbean island of Carriacou was “completely destroyed” by Hurricane Beryl, the earliest Category 5 storm ever recorded in the Atlantic.
Simon Stiell, speaking from Carriacou, said he and his community were experiencing the same “devastation that is all too familiar to hundreds of millions of people around the world.”
He said initial reports indicated that 98 percent of homes and buildings on the Grenadine island were destroyed or severely damaged by the hurricane, which made landfall on July 1 before sweeping through the Cayman Islands and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and reaching Texas last week.
“Tragically, the destruction of lives and livelihoods by beryl is not an isolated case. It is the rising price of the unchecked climate catastrophe in every country on earth,” said Stiell.
“If governments everywhere do not intervene, all economies and 8 billion people will be permanently directly confronted with this blunt force trauma.”
Stiell previously served as Environment Minister of Grenada and assumed the role of Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Office in 2022.
Supporters had argued that his political experience and knowledge of the problems facing small islands threatened by climate change could help push countries to take stronger action at the UN climate talks. But he faces constant dispute and opposition from major greenhouse gas emitters among the G20 countries.
“The G20 is responsible for 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions,” Stiell said. “They must lead the way with groundbreaking new national climate plans – due early next year – and deliver on the pledge each country made last year to move away from all fossil fuels.”
He warned that countries face “endless debt cycles” as they borrow money to rebuild, only to face another “climate-related disaster,” draining resources from education and health facilities.
“These climate-related disasters not only destroy lives and communities when they occur, they impose enormous, ongoing costs around the world,” he added, citing a report that found that failing to tackle climate change would be far more costly than implementing measures to curb temperature rise.
“Beryl is further painful proof: the climate costs of fossil fuels are an economic wrecking ball, hitting billions of households and small businesses every year.”
Ocean temperatures have reached record highs for each of the past 15 months. Warmer oceans have fueled hurricanes and, as a result, led to higher rainfall and higher wind speeds.
Meteorologists are warning of a more intense Atlantic hurricane season lasting from June to November, with most activity typically occurring from mid-August to mid-October.
In May, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NMEA 2000) announced that the probability of an above-average hurricane season in the Atlantic this year was 85 percent higher. This was attributed to a “confluence of factors”, including climate change and the shift towards the naturally occurring La Niña phenomenon, which is also associated with an increase in storm activity.
During the video address, Stiell is seen standing in the ruins of a building that he said was his neighbor’s living room. “My own grandmother’s house down the street was completely destroyed.”
While the hurricane killed several people in Grenada, Stiell’s family remained safe despite the damage to their property.
“What the climate crisis did to my grandmother’s house must not become humanity’s new normal. We can still prevent this, but only if people everywhere raise their voices and demand bolder climate action now, before it is too late,” he said.
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