[2025-11-12] Ban Ki-Moon urges urgent climate action as COP30 opens
November 12, 2025 | 3 minute read
Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underscores the need for enterprises to confront climate instability, technological transformation, and geopolitical shifts with purpose and resilience during the AIM-Asian Forum on Enterprise for Society (AFES) 2025, themed “Navigating Disruption: Enterprise Priorities for a Resilient Future,” held at a hotel in Makati City.
“I JUST wanted to break his neck.”
FORMER United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon recalled that the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement nearly collapsed due to the last-minute objection of a single country.
“After years of negotiation, one small country almost broke the deal,” Ban said at the opening of the AIM-Asian Forum on Enterprise for Society (AFES) in Makati City.
The former South Korean foreign minister did not identify the country but hinted that it is a Catholic country.
“We had to call the Pope. He wasn’t answering. It was a true crisis,” he recalled.
Ban used the anecdote to underscore the fragility of global consensus—and the urgent need for solidarity, courage, and action across sectors.
His message comes as COP30 opens in Belém, Brazil, and as the Philippines reels from back-to-back typhoons and deadly earthquakes that expose the rising toll of climate inaction.
What is the Paris Climate Agreement?
Adopted in 2015 by 196 countries, the Paris Agreement is the world’s most ambitious climate treaty. It aims to limit global warming to well below 2°C—and ideally 1.5°C—above pre-industrial levels. Countries submit their own climate action plans, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), and are expected to scale up ambition every five years.
But the world is not on track. Global emissions continue to rise, and the planet is now projected to warm by up to 2.8°C by the end of the century.
“Climate change does not care where you live,” Ban said. “It attacks all countries, all people. We must walk together.”
Typhoons in the Philippines highlight urgency
Ban’s message hit home in the Philippines, where Typhoon Tino (Kalmaegi) and Super Typhoon Nando (Ragasa) recently displaced thousands and exposed gaps in disaster preparedness. He emphasized that climate justice must be applied globally, especially in vulnerable nations like the Philippines.
“These are not abstract goals—they are the blueprint for survival,” Ban said, citing six priority areas from the UN’s 2030 report: food systems, energy, digital transformation, education, jobs and social protection, and climate and biodiversity.
Business must lead: “Join all our hands together”
Ban called on business leaders to take a more strategic role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially through tri-sector partnerships involving government, enterprise, and civil society.
“No country can do it alone—not the United States, not Europe,” he said. “We must join all our hands together.”
He praised the UN Global Compact for aligning corporate practices with sustainability, labor rights, environmental protection, and anti-corruption. “This compact is not optional—it is essential.”
Legarda: Walk our talk—climate justice must be local
In an interview with BusinessMirror, Senator Loren Legarda echoed Ban’s call for urgent, ground-level action.
“All these good policies will be for naught if we don’t work with people on the ground,” she said. “We must reduce and eliminate the loss of lives and livelihoods.”
Legarda pointed to the recent typhoons as proof that climate impacts are worsening. “Areas that never flooded before are now underwater. It’s multifaceted—solid waste, forest loss, marine degradation. It’s all connected.”
She emphasized that governance must begin at the barangay level. “Let’s not wait for top-down solutions. Climate justice is not just about demanding accountability from polluters—it’s about saving our own lives and livelihoods.”
Image credits: Nonie Reyes
