Conflicts around world distracting attention from 'equally deadly' climate crisis: Bulgarian president

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - Conflicts around the world are distracting attention from the "equally deadly" climate crisis, the Bulgarian president said on Wednesday.

"Today we live in a world of increasing risks and uncertainty," Rumen Radev said in his speech to the annual UN General Assembly in New York.

"The resurrected ghost of self-destruction, as a result of the full-scale war in Europe, is a nightmare that my generation wrongly believed to be bygone phase in human history," Radev said, underlining that war, conflicts and terror "challenge the future of our civilization."

However, he said while facing these challenges, the world should not turn a blind eye to an equally serious threat called climate change.

"All these negative developments are about to distract our attention from the challenges that may tend to be equally deadly for the community," the president said.

"The triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution threatens the life on our planet."

Radev added: "All these risks and challenges must be addressed in full consciousness that the future of our civilization is at stake."