UN chief candidate Bachelet: Climate action ‘not an option’ as world faces growing crisis

Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said governments can no longer treat climate action as a choice, arguing that scientific evidence has already made clear both the causes of climate change and the steps needed to confront it.

Bachelet, a candidate to succeed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres when his term ends in 2026, told Anadolu that stronger political leadership and international cooperation are needed to help vulnerable countries pursue development while responding to a crisis already affecting millions worldwide.

“This is not an option, it’s an obligation,” she said.

Bachelet said scientific uncertainty over climate change is largely a thing of the past and that the challenge now is convincing governments to act on what is already known.

“Now everybody knows why it’s produced, what you can do to stop it and what is necessary,” she said. “What we need now is political will from member states.”

She stressed that climate change cannot be addressed by countries acting alone and said international agreements remain essential to delivering meaningful progress.

“No country by itself will solve the problem. We need international cooperation, so we need agreements,” she said.