U.N. secretary-general to graduating seniors: 'Don't work for climate-wreckers'

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres offered some strong opinions to the graduating class of Seton Hall University on Tuesday morning when he spoke at its commencement: “Don’t work for climate-wreckers.”

The United Nations’ top official, a former prime minister of Portugal, has made combating climate change a major focus of his five-year term, which began in 2017. His speech to the graduating seniors, who are about to enter a hot job market, was heavily focused on dealing with the climate crisis and how they can play a role in ending it.

“You must be the generation that succeeds in addressing the planetary emergency of climate change,” Guterres said at the ceremony at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., according to a transcript released by his office. “Despite mountains of evidence of looming climate catastrophe, we still see mountains of funding for coal and fossil fuels that are killing our planet. That money continues to flow from some of the biggest names in finance, hedge funds and private equity.”

Guterres went on to say that the public must put companies “on notice: Accountability is coming for those who liquidate our future.”

Efforts to choke off funding for fossil fuel extraction, infrastructure and consumption are usually focused at the top of corporations, such as movements to get institutional investors to divest from fossil fuels, or activist efforts to reform corporate climate policies via shareholders. But Guterres proposed a bottom-up strategy to the graduates who will be vying for entry-level jobs: a labor boycott, in essence.

“As graduates, you hold the cards,” he said. “Your talent is in demand from multinational companies and big financial institutions. You will have plenty of opportunities to choose from. My message to you is simple: Don’t work for climate-wreckers. Use your talents to drive us towards a renewable future.”

Guterres also discussed climate change and other worldwide problems such as poverty and Russia’s war against Ukraine more broadly. And he specifically promoted his recently released five-point plan “to jump-start the renewable energy transition,” including removing patent protections for renewable energy technologies and shifting investment from fossil fuels to renewables.

“The climate crisis is wreaking havoc, and threatening to erase entire communities and even entire countries — with governments failing to take the action needed to turn this around,” Guterres, 73, said. “My generation — and your parents’ generation — have fallen short in bequeathing the world you deserve. But when I look out at all of you today ... I have hope that you will succeed where we failed.”