SANTIAGO – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to Antarctica this week with Chilean President Gabriel Boric to observe the impact of rising temperatures caused by climate change on the continent, he said on Nov 22.

The two men will arrive in Antarctica on Nov 23, and visit three Chilean scientific bases, the Collins glacier, as well as a stop to see the penguins and other native species at Kopaitic Island, before returning to Chile on Nov 25. They will also participate in the launching of a weather balloon.

The Chilean presidency said the aim of the visit was to “highlight the effects of global warming and call for joint efforts on a global scale to mitigate the effects of climate change”.

“Scorching temperatures mean Antarctic ice is melting ever-faster, with deadly consequences for people around the world,” Mr Guterres told reporters.

Mr Guterres will speak on his experience during UN climate summit COP28 in Dubai next week, where he will “call for action that matches the scale of the crisis we face”, he said.

World leaders will convene for the annual conference with the aim of keeping the Paris Agreement warming target of 1.5 deg C alive. As they stand, countries’ emissions pledges would still put the world on track to warm by nearly 3 deg C this century, according to a UN analysis released on Monday.

In 2023, Mr Boric travelled to Antarctica previously and has invited other leaders such as Chinese President Xi Jinping to do the same. He shot back last week at opposition criticism for the emissions put out by travelling to the continent by plane.

“I’ll propose to the secretary-general of the UN that we row our way there in a canoe, instead of travelling with the Chilean Air Force, so people like you don’t have to go through this hard time,” he said to one critic on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. AFP, REUTERS