Special Address on the Global Response to the Climate and Energy Crises by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres

Good morning, everyone. Could I ask anyone still standing please take your seats so we can begin this morning's important gathering? And it is an important moment for which we're gathered, a special moment, a critical moment within the framework of London Climate Action Week. I'm Michelle Hussein, host of the Michelle Hussein Show podcast from Bloomberg Weekend, and it's my privilege to welcome you all here. We're incredibly fortunate to be about to hear from a global leader whose distinguished record in public service over decades really underscores the ongoing and the urgent need for climate action. And we're also gathered at a moment in time when here in the UK, we're expecting temperatures for June to be broken in the last 24 hours and amid a European heatwave, which is nature's own message to any of us who might have missed it so far. So welcome, Secretary-General, welcome ambassadors, ministers, Mayor of London, Princess Haya, Excellencies, people who have really been thinking about climate in their own way and from their own perspective for a very long time and taking action too. And on that note, I'm really pleased to be able to begin by introducing someone whose own commitment is evident in every chapter of his career. He's the founder of a global business which employs thousands of people around the world, including me, and I have seen firsthand the culture that he's built and the way that he encourages all of us at Bloomberg to think about what we individually can do to create a better world. As a philanthropist, he's launched transformative initiatives. As a local leader, he has demonstrated how to bring change to millions. And for the past decade, as the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions, he has helped turn ambition into action in many different ways. So, to get this special moment underway, please join me in welcoming to the stage the founder of Bloomberg and Bloomberg Philanthropies, Michael R. Bloomberg.

Michelle, thank you very much, and thank you everyone for being here. We don't have a crowd this size in a room like this very often, so just ask the person on your left and the person on your right Who are you? Where do you come from? What do you do? And you'll be making friends for life, and you'll have more friends than anybody else. Anyways, let me give a special welcome to our guest of honor, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres. For 9 years, He has worked tirelessly to uphold the principles of the UN without partiality or favor for any nation, and that even includes the World Cup. You should know the Secretary-General is from Portugal, which has a strong team in the World Cup. Some people think this could finally be their year. I won't comment on that, certainly not while I'm in England. I thought that was funny too. Thank you all for taking part in London's Climate Action Week. The event has been steadily growing and our team at Bloomberg is glad to be a partner in it. London is our company's second home. Our European headquarters is just a short walk away from here, and when it opened, it received the highest sustainability rating of any office building in the world. And the architect Norman Foster deserves a lot of credit for it. The measures we took to reach that bar all benefits our business. Energy efficiency lowers bills. Solar and wind power are now cheaper than fossil fuels in virtually every part of the world. Last year, more than 90% of the world's new power installations come from clean energy, and that includes the US, despite government policies there to prop— to to prop up fossil fuels and block clean energy. Why the government does that, I cannot tell you. I don't think anybody else can. Business and investors really recognize the steps that fight climate change also drive economic growth and create jobs. It is an international center of finance and an engine of private sector innovation. London has been a very important part— playing an important part in that, and we're lucky to have the Mayor of London here, Sadiq Khan. Welcome. Oh, thank you for having us, I guess, is the way that should go. So this week, it is a valuable opportunity to speed up progress, and we don't have a minute to lose. Climate change is growing more deadly and costly, and if you don't believe it, just look at the news. The US has had its worst drought spring brought on in record history. Last month, the UK had its hottest May temperature ever. In January, parts of South Africa got a year's worth of rain in 10 days, causing deadly flooding. And it's not just temporary effects of extreme weather. Permanent changes are taking place. And just to give you one example, Last year, mosquitoes were found in the wilds of Iceland for the first time in history. Think about that. In the meantime, air pollution has burned fossil fuel— burning from fossil fuels is still killing millions of people a year. And as we've seen in recent months, the world's dependence on oil and gas leaves us generously vulnerable to economic shocks and military conflict. Over the last decade— whoops, hang on, stay right there. Yesterday we made a new commitment to support clean energy industries in developing countries where energy needs are growing fastest. We've seen that progress really is possible even against the odds. More than 70% of US coal-fired power plants have closed or switched to clean energy along with 60% of Europe's. And last month, the US got more power from solar than from coal for the first time in history. To date, 28 countries have either phased out coal completely or have committed to do so, and that includes the UK, which is now coal-free. The Secretary-General has been instrumental in that global progress. Across his 9 years in the role, The world has no more passionate advocate for action on climate coverage and for all of the society being— to be included. For a long time, climate change was thought to be a problem for national governments to solve from the top down, but with his support, progress is being made from the bottom up by cities, states, and regions, businesses, and investors. Over the past decade, Emissions in the world's biggest cities have gone down even as global emissions have gone up. Those cities really are doing the right thing. And I'm glad to say that Sadiq Khan's London has helped us lead the way towards bold action to cut emissions and air pollution. People want to live in cities with clean air and where people want to live, business, and invest. The Secretary-General has been a champion for for cities, states, and businesses, and all the other groups that have played a role to play in climate change. He's found creative, ambitious ways to support them and amplify their voices, including at the United Nations annual COP conference. He has led the United Nations during an extremely difficult period of volatile times in global affairs, given all the military conflicts and all of the crises that the world has faced, it would be— have been easy for him to put climate action on the back burner. He might have left us for another day and another Secretary-General, but he did not. He has always understood how imperative it is not to kick the can down the road, which only makes the problems so much worse. He has refused to accept inaction and denial. He's never wavered in his determination, and because of that, we have made critical progress. It's set a powerful example for future leaders at the UN and beyond. Our progress hasn't been fast enough or widespread enough, and we still have an awfully long ways to go, but we've made great strides that would not have occurred without his leadership, and the great benefits will be felt by the generations to come. Please welcome Secretary General Guterres.

Dear friends, all protocol observed, thank you for your warm welcome. And Michael Bloomberg, thank you for your kind words and for your longstanding and outstanding leadership on climate action. You are helping turn ambition into real progress for people and planet. Thank you for your strong voice, and I am grateful for the commitment and advocacy of so many distinguished leaders here today, starting by our Mayor. Dear friends, crisis brings clarity. And here in London, the city of Dickens, it is clear that our world is facing a tale of two crises: a climate crisis pushing us deeper toward higher temperatures and closer to catastrophic tipping points; and an energy crisis exposing the folly of a world hooked on hydrocarbons. On the surface, these crises may seem separate. But they share the same destructive origin: fossil fuels. And they demand the same answer: a fast, fair transition to clean energy, and a surge in adaptation, resilience and climate justice for those already facing climate harm. Dear friends, crisis number one—climate chaos—is accelerating before our eyes. We have just lived through the 11 hottest years ever recorded. And today, this city and far beyond are experiencing the hottest day of the year, with higher temperatures to come. London isn't just calling. It's cooking. Around the world, climate disasters are becoming more frequent, more destructive, and more costly. And the World Meteorological Organization has warned: "We ain't seen nothing yet." El Niño is not just knocking on the door. It risks blowing the house down. Turning up the heat— disrupting food and water systems, and hitting the vulnerable the hardest. 10 years ago, world leaders agreed in Paris to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. Now, scientists say average annual temperatures will exceed that threshold in the coming years. And the task before us is to strictly limit the overshoot shorten its duration and bring temperatures down below 1.5 degrees Celsius as fast as possible. Every fraction of a degree matters. Every moment counts. Because the higher and longer the overshoot, the greatest the risk of crossing planetary tipping points that trigger irreversible change. Today, the United Nations Scientific Advisory Board is releasing a report on precisely what that would mean: coral reef systems pushed towards collapse; the accelerating loss of ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica, locking in sea level rise that would reshape coastlines, displace millions and threaten the existence of some island nations; the weakening of major ocean circulation systems that regulate weather and rainfall; and parts of the Amazon rainforest shifting towards savannah-like conditions. So, dear friends, the Earth's tipping points are like objects in a car mirror: they are far closer than they appear. And at the same time, we are confronting a second crisis. Conflict in the Middle East has unleashed the mother of all energy shocks. The International Energy Agency tells us its scale rivals the oil upheavals of the 1970s and the turmoil followed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine combined. For many developing countries, this is not just an energy crisis. It's a debt shock, a food shock, a development shock. And I would add that any peace agreements welcome and would bring much-needed relief. But make no mistake, the impacts are likely to be long-lasting. So, dear friends, these twin crises have once again exposed the limits of an outdated model of development. —a model powered by fossil fuels, where a single conflict can upend global energy supply and a single chokepoint can send prices soaring; a model that treats nature as limitless, to be consumed without consequence; a model that has created enormous wealth, but also deepened inequality and fueled insecurity. A model in which those who did the least to cause this crisis paid the highest price. And the lesson is clear: this model has no future. The international community recognized its limits when it adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The world cannot go back. We cannot double down on a system based on fossil fuels that is driving both the climate crisis and the energy crisis. What we need urgently is the will to fully implement the Sustainable Development Goals, to align prosperity with resilience, growth with sustainability, and opportunity with justice. And the good news is, unlike every past energy crisis, we now have a clear way out. A clean way out. Renewables are the cheapest, fastest, and most scalable source of new electricity in most of the world. Since 2010, the cost of the solar has plummeted by almost 90%, onshore wind by more than 70%, and battery storage by 95%. Last year, wind and solar exceeded all new electricity demand growth worldwide. Solar recorded the single largest annual increase of any electricity source in history. And more than 90% of new renewable power added globally is already cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternatives. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, Existing renewable energy capacity saved the world economy $480 billion US dollars in avoided fossil fuel costs in 2025 alone. And renewables avoided more than the usual carbon dioxide emissions of the US, the EU, and Japan combined. Meanwhile, clean energy investment is attracting almost twice as much as fossil fuels. Much of this momentum is from fossil fuel importing countries determined to break free from unstable and unpredictable energy markets. They understand the core truth: every unit of energy a country produces for itself is one less unit it must purchase from a market it cannot control, through a route it cannot protect, and at a price set by events it did not choose. There are no embargoes on sunlight and no blockades on the wind. So, dear friends, the verdict is in: energy independence cannot be built on fossil fuel dependence. Renewables are the cornerstone of true energy security. Electrifying transport, buildings and industry is among the fastest ways to cut emissions and break reliance on imported fossil fuels. The more economies run on clean electricity, the more secure, resilient and competitive they become. So how do we make a clean break? Let me point to 7 steps. First, we must act with far greater urgency to strictly limit the magnitude and duration of any overshoot beyond 1.5 degrees. Science has laid out a clear roadmap: emissions must peak immediately, fall steeply this decade, and reach global net zero by 2050. Yet the world remains dangerously off track. The latest national climate plans would reduce global emissions by only 10% by 2035. And science tells us that emissions must fall by 60% over the same period to keep 1.5 within reach. The G20, which is responsible for around 80% of global emissions, must lead. The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities applies, but every major emitti— emitter must do much more. And every country must overdeliver on its commitments by accelerating the shift away from fossil fuels towards clean energy, as governments committed at the 2023 UN Climate Conference, by halting deforestation and restoring nature, and by rapidly reducing carbon dioxide emissions from coal, oil and gas production and consumption. CO2 remains the principal driver of long-term warming. But it is also time to prioritize the cutting of methane. Methane is responsible for around one-third of global warming. It is some 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. But unlike CO2, methane breaks down in the atmosphere within a decade or two. That means that aggressive cuts could produce visible temperature relief within a generation. And that is why today I am launching a Global Call to Action on Methane. It spotlights three sectors: the waste sector, including decisive steps to reduce food waste and open dumping and capture emissions from landfills and wastewater; the agriculture sector, —driving down emissions with proven solutions to advance food security and protect farmers' livelihoods. And a special focus on the sector that is the root cause of the twin crises facing our world, and where the most immediate gains can be made: coal, oil and gas. I am urging the fossil fuel industry to step up and do what is long overdue. The International Energy Agency found that around 70% of oil and gas methane emissions can be eliminated using existing technology, much of it at low or no net cost. Yet in 2025 alone, some 167 billion cubic meters of gas was flared into the sky—as much as Africa consumes in a year. UN Environment's Methane Alert and Response System has issued more than 5,000 alerts across 33 countries. Yet the global response rate stands at just 12%. This is why voluntary action is no longer enough. The world The world phased out leaded gasoline. We eliminated ozone-depleting chemicals. So methane pollution must be next. And I call on producer and consumer governments alike to set a new global standard for the oil and gas sector: near-zero methane emissions across the value chain. Second, we must address today's energy crisis without deepening dependence on the fuels driving it. Around the globe, powerful voices continue to insist on more coal mines, more oil fields, more gas expansion. This at a time when the world will not even be able to use all the fossil fuels already accessible, let alone gamble on new supplies and infrastructure that risk becoming obsolete well before the end of their economic life. And let's be clear. It's not only assets that will be stranded. It's entire economies. The growth engine of today and tomorrow runs on clean energy. I understand the impulse, especially in periods of turbulence, to hold on to what feels familiar. The promise of business as usual can sound reassuring to some. But it means paying more, for less security. And it means surrendering the industries and the jobs of the 21st century to others, while risk deepens at home. That's not leadership. That's retreat. And we must be equally clear about who bears the cost: working people. Families feeling the strain with higher bills, greater uncertainty, —a sense that the system is not working for them, while fossil fuel giants continue to reap extraordinary profits. The 8 largest fossil fuel companies reported pocketing an extra $6.5 billion in the first quarter of this year alone. And that only includes one month of the Middle East crisis, as oil prices continue to climb. And profits to rise. These are windfall gains born of pain, of instability, hardship, and dependence. I urge governments to tax them. And I urge them to use the proceeds where they belong—helping vulnerable families and communities, and accelerating the shift to clean, affordable energy. But removing harmful subsidies and incentives is not enough. We must also remove the structural barriers holding back clean energy projects. Too often, they are simply waiting—sometimes for years—to connect to the grid. Transmission is inadequate. Distribution systems are outdated. Storage is lagging behind. Digital systems are not yet sufficiently smart— or flexible. And regional and inter-regional connections remain too limited. If you are serious about the transition, we must treat grids as strategic infrastructure. The age of electrification will require a massive expansion of grids, storage and system flexibility. And we need rules fit for the 21st century. Governments must create the conditions for investment with modernized planning, faster permitting, and regulatory reform. Third, as demand for energy continues to rise, we must confront one of its fastest-growing sources: AI data centers. Artificial intelligence can accelerate climate solutions. It can help cure disease. Transform education, and enable humanity to tackle challenges once thought beyond our reach. We must harness that potential. But AI is also hungry for land, water, and power. The data centres behind it already consume more electricity than most nations. By 2030, they could use more power than all but 5 countries, and enough water to meet the basic needs of all 1.3 billion residents of sub-Saharan Africa for an entire year. They take up land too, often in places that see few of the benefits. And despite these obvious concerns, communities are often left in the dark about the environmental impact of the infrastructure rising around them. So today, I am proposing the AI Environmental Transparency Initiative. And I am calling on every major AI company to measure and publicly disclose the full environmental impact of its systems—carbon, water, and land footprints—and commit to powering every data center with renewable energy by 2030. No more hidden costs. No more shifting the burden onto those least able to bear it. It's time to come clean. If AI is to help build a better future, it must be honest about what it costs us now. Fourth, we must deliver a just transition. History teaches an hard lesson: the greatest threat is not the transition itself, but the failure to manage it. That is the risk we face today. The energy transition is not moving in a coherent way. Fossil fuel investment continues even as clean energy grows. Countries are pulling in different directions. Producers are asking, "What happens to our revenues, our jobs, our economies?" Consumers are asking, "Will energy remain affordable and reliable?" Developing countries are asking, "Will we be able to compete or be left behind?" And workers, communities and young people are asking, "What does this transition mean for our future?" Right now, these questions are not being answered in a joined-up way. We need a shared, practical effort focused on delivery. A space that brings together producers and consumers, developed and developing countries, finance, industry, labour and civil society. And a space to focus on the real issues that will determine whether this transition succeeds or fails. How do we phase out reliance on fossil fuels while rapidly scaling up clean energy? How do we manage the economic risks for countries that depend on fossil fuel revenues? How do we support workers and communities through a just transition? And how do we mobilize investment at the speed and scale required? I will convene leaders in September to help drive this work forward in advance of the UN Climate Conference, COP21, in Türkiye. Because the transition itself is no longer in question. It will be either managed or chaotic, fair or unequal, a source of stability or a greater division. And these choices are still ours to make. But transition will be inevitable. And I want to emphasize that clean energy cannot be built on dirty practices. A just transition means the countries and communities whose lands hold the critical minerals of the clean energy future must fully share in its benefits. No more extraction without development. Fifth, and fundamentally, we must do far more to protect people and communities from the here-and-now effects of climate chaos. Because even at full speed, we cannot outrun climate change. Its impacts are already here, compounding and cascading, A drought can quickly become a food crisis. A storm can become a debt crisis. A heatwave can become a public health emergency. Adaptation is essential. It saves lives, safeguards homes and communities, helps economies absorb shocks and holds societies together. Yet adaptation has long been framed as charity. That's wrong. Climate impacts are already reshaping development, stability and security. They are straining food and water systems, disrupting supply chains, pressuring public finances and deepening fragility. And we must respond accordingly. Adaptation must be built into national planning and decision-making, from development strategies to regulation. We need more effective insurance and risk-sharing systems. We need contingency systems that can act before shocks become humanitarian and economic catastrophes. And we need better separation before— better preparation before disaster strikes, and to fully implement our Early Warnings for All initiative. And developed countries need to deliver on their longstanding commitment to double adaptation finance, with a clear trajectory towards tripling it. And that leads to the sixth point: all of this requires finance at the scale, speed and fairness that both crises demand. Today, the global financial system is failing the countries that need support most. It overprices risk and underprices opportunity. Many developing countries face borrowing costs for clean energy and resilience that can run 2 to 3 times more than in wealthier economies. Countries rich in renewable potential are being locked out of the clean energy revolution. Look no further than the vast African continent. Africa is home to 60% of the world's best solar resources, 30% of critical minerals, and one-fifth of humanity. Yet it receives just 2% of global clean energy investments. At the same time, more than 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity. This is unjust and a lost opportunity for Africa and the world. Developed countries must keep their promises, including support to the Fund for responding to loss and damage, and the Green Climate Fund. The $300 billion pledged to developing countries must be delivered, with concrete steps to mobilize the $1.3 trillion a year by 2035. In a world of shrinking aid, we must also unleash the catalytic role of multilateral development banks and the wider development finance system to help fund long-term infrastructure such as grids, mass transit, and water systems. Recent reforms and policy decisions have increased the lending capacity of multilateral development banks by $600 to $800 billion. They must use it aggressively to finance the infrastructure of the future and climate adaptation. They must also adapt their instruments to match the scale and timeframe of the challenge, including 50-year finance where needed. And we must go further. The lending capacity of multilateral development banks must be further boosted by their shareholders, including through bold recapitalization and further reforms. In the face of shrinking fiscal space, every public dollar must work harder and be used more creatively to unlock private capital. And that means scaling up guarantees, local currency financing, blended finance and other risk-sharing instruments to lower the cost of capital and crowd in private investment, especially in developing countries where risks are perceived as high. It means drawing on additional sources of finance, from solidarity levies on high-emitting sectors, —to debt-for-climate swaps, to carbon market revenues, to mobilizing philanthropy. And it means ensuring that all financial institutions, public and private, align their operations with the Paris Agreement and the realities of a warming world. In the end, the test is simple: we must move capital to developing countries at the speed, scale and affordability that the times demand, to respond to the climate crisis, unleash stronger and more resilient growth, and advance the Sustainable Development Goals. Seventh and finally, we must protect science and truth itself. Science has given humanity the ability to understand the risks before catastrophe strikes. Yet disinformation is spreading deliberately to delay climate action, entrench vested interests, and erode trust. We must act to protect scientific independence, strengthen trust in evidence and institutions, safeguard human rights defenders and journalists reporting on climate and the environment, and ensure everyone has access to reliable, credible, and science-based information. The United Nations has launched the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change to help do just that. Facts matter. Science matters. Information integrity matters. Dear friends, let me conclude where I began, with Dickens: "For the climate agenda, this is indeed the best of times and the worst of times." of times. The worst, because climate impacts are intensifying, tipping points are looming, and the energy crisis has exposed the deep risks of— of dependence on fossil fuels. But also the best, because the renewables revolution is well underway. A revolution of clean power, electrification, falling costs, rising ambition, and vast opportunity. A revolution that can free countries from the volatility of fossil fuel markets, expand access to energy, strengthen security, create jobs, clean the air, restore ecosystems, and bring a safer future within reach. We have the enormous opportunity and responsibility to turn the tale of two crises into a single story of resolve, fairness, and shared progress. We can finally turn the page on fossil fuels and write a future powered by renewables and rooted in climate justice. This is our moment of choice, our moment of truth, our moment of opportunity. Let's seize it. And I thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a little bit more time with the Secretary-General to go deeper into his messages. And as you mentioned Charles Dickens, I was thinking that he would of course have known this building because it dates from the 15th century, so it was definitely here in his time, and it will clearly be here long after we are all gone, because it was built to last. So, Secretary-General, you have seen so much in nearly 10 years in your position, and you have challenged us through your speech. You have set out your 7 action points. Of course, the question of political leadership— Mike referred to it, you also talked about retreats— how much progress is possible when we have attitudes —such as those of the US government at the moment?

Well, the US government does not control the world. It does not even control the economy of the United States. And the truth is that in the economy of the United States, which is a market economy, the private sector has a fundamental role to play and is playing that role. Mike Bloomberg just expressed the fact that even in the United States, solar is for the first time producing more than coal. And obviously, it is clear that the reality of facts and the obvious fact is that renewables are cheaper than fossil fuel. The reality of facts is a reality entrepreneurs understand very well. And so, independently of the efforts that are made and even the attempts to undermine the possibility of growth of the the clean industry and the clean energy, the truth is that the— those that have to take decisions in relation to their investments, in relation to their plans, recognize the facts, and the facts is that clean energy is the cheapest, the most profitable, And at the same time, for those that are concerned with security problems, after what we have seen, it is clear that economies based on renewables are much more secure than economies based on the imports of fossil fuels that in some moments might become highly problematic, as it was the case very recently. So when you say— For economic reasons and for security reasons, I think it is inevitable, the transition to renewables. Obviously, some political leaders can delay a little bit that evolution, but they will be unable to stop it.

So if governments say to you, we hear what you're saying and we are doing everything we can in renewable energy, but we also need the fossil fueled, that we need all of this energy because of the demands of our population. What is your answer?

No, fossil fuels will not disappear tomorrow. What we want is a just transition from fossil fuels to renewables, which means that fossil fuels will represent a lower and lower share of energy consumption, and renewables will begin— will represent a bigger and bigger share and lower— of energy consumption. And one day, the world will not need fossil fuels anymore for that purpose. They might have other uses that can exist, of course, with a different scale. But I think it's— this transition is inevitable because it has behind it, as I said, the logic of the economy and the logic of security.

Are you nevertheless worried that there are governments which are learning what you would see as the wrong lessons from this period of the last few months and the supply shock and constraint of the Iran war, that they want the pipelines, for example, to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again or to drill more for their own oil and gas?

But let's be honest, we need to understand the reasons that motivate people. If you are an oil-producing country and you have difficulties in selling your oil because of the risks of a blockade, you try to create an alternative route to sell your product. But what we are dealing is not with the interests of the oil-producing countries. What we are dealing is the interest of humankind and the interest of the world, and it is obvious from the world perspective that independently of the access that these or that country has to the global markets, there is an irreversible trend that makes the dependence on fossil fuels not only an environmental problem, not only a problem for the planet, but also the wrong economic decision and the wrong security decision. And 70% of the countries of the world are importers of fossil fuels, and 70% of the countries of the world have suffered enormously, as you can imagine, during the recent period.

I thought your reflection on AI within your 7 points was really interesting and important. It's a call to action that AI is hungry, you said, for water, land, and power, and you call for disclosure from every major AI company to reveal their full environmental impact and commit to powering every data center fully by renewable energy by the year 2030. How much of a response have you had thus far as you develop this?

Well, we will see, but I think this is perfectly reasonable, uh, and even positive for the AI industry because, uh, uh, eventually Some people will say that they consume much more than what they really do. So I think the truth is essential. We have a new activity that has a fantastic potential for humankind that we must cherish as a very important asset for our future. But it has a present environmental cost, and what I believe is necessary is transparency. Transparency. I think those that are owning these companies have the obligation towards the community to say, here it is the services we provide, but at the same time we consume X of energy, we consume X of water, we consume X of land, and make it clear because I believe transparency is essential for the decisions that communities must make, and transparency is essential even for the future of artificial intelligence and to make sure that artificial intelligence is essentially a force for good.

I mean, the— so the company—

we are not asking anything but transparency, and at the same time, as there is a huge consumption of energy, I think it's normal that these companies invest or and make the contracts necessary to make sure that their consumption is fully provided by clean sources of energy.

We're talking about a handful of really big companies in this area, primarily US companies. It'll be very interesting to see the response you get for your, for your call for full transparency. But I also wonder if you have a message for all of us as consumers and users of this extraordinary new technology and users of large language models? What should we demand?

Well, I think consumers have the right to know the cost, the real cost of what they are consuming, and that will help consumers as citizens play an important role in their communities and Local authorities have a vital interest to know what is the impact in their communities of this kind of activities. So I think an essential principle of good governance and an essential principle of good decisions at individual level is to know exactly what is the reality. The value of transparency is essential for all of us, for governments, for mayors, and for citizens.

And we're nearly coming to the end of our time with you, and I'm conscious that you're also coming to the end of a remarkable and intense period yourself as UN Secretary-General, because it is nearly 10 years since you took up the position. Give us an idea of what it has been like. You know, it's been a time of increased conflict, it's been a time of difficulty for the many parts of the UN from the Trump administration. How has it been for you? How do you reflect on your time?

Well, this has been a difficult time, but there are things that are fundamental. In difficult times, it's important first of all to abide by the principles. And I believe that we were able, as Secretariat of the UN— Security Council is a different story— we were able to clear, always be loyal to the Charter, loyal to international law, loyal to the truth. And I think this has been a very important reference in a world where especially the big powers are more and more violating international law and more and more violating global public interest. And I think that this role is essential to be maintained. I think the UN must maintain its role of being a reference, a reference that unfortunately many of the member states of the UN do not respect, a reference in relation to the needs to have a rules-based order, in relation to the needs to guarantee that all countries have equal rights, and to guarantee that the law prevails over the force, and not the force prevails over the law. And this has been for me the most important part of the work we do. Be it in relation to conflict, be it in relation to climate change, be it in relation to artificial intelligence, we need an international institution that tells the truth to the people and allows decision makers to take the right decisions. Unfortunately, that does not happen all the time, but the worst thing that could happen was if at the leadership of the United Nations we would abdicate on defending international law, would abdicate on defending the truce, would abdicate on defending the values of the Charter that was created 80 years ago.

So to those who are fearful about the next decade and feel the outlook is bleak, where would you say that you find hope? Because you must have found it somewhere to keep things going in the face of all of this?

We see more and more in young people the understanding that our multilateral institutions that were created after the Second World War, and that reflected the world of that time, need reform. The Security Council needs reform. The Bretton Woods institutions need reform. They all need to adapt to the realities of today's world. But I think that everybody understands that a world of chaos doesn't solve any problem, that we need multilateral institutions, and that we need that those multilateral institutions are a symbol of respect for international law and for universal values.

Secretary-General, you've been very generous with your time. I know I speak for everyone in saying thank you. We all wish you the best, and thank you for being part of this. Thank you very much.