My generation is responsible for the fact that we are at war with nature" UN chief António Guterres

The war in Ukraine is not only creating global economic turmoil but is also threatening international efforts to tackle climate change, according to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.  

The UN chief spoke to Euronews on the sidelines of the five-day UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon. Over 7000 participants have descended on the Portuguese capital to take part in the ocean summit. With the message, 'Save our Ocean, Protect our Future', the gathering aims to serve as a call to action for policy-makers to reverse the decline in ocean health. 

When questioned about how the battle against climate change could be put back at the top of the international agenda, Guterres told Euronews' Sérgio Ferreira de Almeida that it was about raising the issue as much as possible on all fronts. 

"If you look at the war in Ukraine, the war in Ukraine demonstrates how important it would have been if in the last decades we had invested massively in renewable energy. If that had happened, we would not be today at the mercy of the fossil fuel industry with prices that are extremely high, as you know, and undermining the quality of life of people and undermining the situation of many developing countries. So if the war in Ukraine demonstrates something, [it] is that we need to accelerate the green transition, which means we need to fight climate change much more effectively." 

Guterres also described the recent move by countries to accelerate investment in fossil fuels as suicide.

"That is suicide and I hope that people will understand that suicide is not exactly the best way to face the future."

On the issue of global food security and access to the Black Sea, the Secretary-General insisted the UN was working hard to broker a deal between