“Don’t work for climate wreckers:” UN chief warns young people off fossil fuels

United Nations secretary general António Guterres has told a group of new university graduates to avoid jobs with “climate wreckers,” as he ramps up his calls for an accelerated end to fossil fuels.

In a commencement address to the US-based Seton Hall University on Tuesday, Guterres told the graduates that their skills and knowledge were needed to tackle major global challenges and that they should avoid working for companies wrecking the climate.

“As graduates, you hold the cards. Your talent is in demand from multinational companies and big financial institutions,” Guterres said.

“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.”

It’s a stark message from the United Nations’ most senior official, telling young people to effectively withhold their labour from fossil fuel industries.

Guterres reiterated his description of the fossil fuel industry as a “dead end,” telling the graduates that the funding and efforts being committed to expanding the fossil fuel industry were killing the planet.

“My friends, you must be the generation that succeeds in addressing the planetary emergency of climate change,” Guterres said.

“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. But we know investing in fossil fuels is a dead end – economically and environmentally. No amount of greenwashing or spin can change that.”

The speech might have some traction with younger Australian workers, with a poll commissioned by the Climate Council earlier this year showing that a vast majority of residents in New South Wales and Queensland see green energy technologies as being key to their long-term prosperity.

Guterres, who was prime minister of Portugal for 17 years before becoming the UN chief, has been a vocal advocate for much stronger action on climate change, calling for a rapid end to fossil fuels and pushing countries to adopt much more ambitious emissions targets.

Guterres has previously described fossil fuel advocates as “dangerous radicals”, while also calling coal a “stupid investment.”

The UN chief has hit out at countries that are not pulling their weight on climate change commitments, including Australia, which he singled out as being a “hold out” on stronger emissions reduction targets.

Under the former Coalition government, Australia refused to increase its official 2030 emissions reduction target, sticking with a 26 to 28 per cent reduction target first adopted by the Abbott government in 2015.

On Tuesday, in one of his first acts as the new prime minister, Anthony Albanese formally committed Australia to a stronger 43 per cent reduction target by 2030 at a meeting of Quad leaders – that includes the United States, Japan and India – in Tokyo.