Almost a fortnight of COP25 talks just squeezed out hard-earned compromises from countries over a global warming battle plan that fell well short of what science says is needed to tackle the climate crisis.
"I am disappointed with the results of COP25," Guterres said. "The international community lost an important opportunity to show increased ambition on mitigation, adaptation and finance to tackle the climate crisis."
The summit's final declaration "expresses the urgent need" for new carbon cutting commitments to close the gap between current emissions and the Paris treaty goal of capping temperature at below two degrees, host country Spain said.
"Today, the citizens of the world are asking for us to move ahead faster and better," Carolina Schmidt, Chilean environment minister and President of COP25, told the closing plenary.
But Tina Eonemto Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, denounced the response as inadequate for facing an existential threat of rising sea levels.
"Unfortunately, the new text we adopted this morning does not reflect anything near what we would have wanted. It is the bare minimum and we regret that countries could not agree on a more ambitious text," Stege said.
Green youth activist Greta Thunberg -- named 2019 Person of the Year by Time magazine -- on Friday slammed world leaders for "still trying to run away from their responsibilities" while demanding a "year of action" in 2020.
Following a year of deadly extreme weather and weekly protests by millions of young people, Madrid negotiators were under pressure to send a clear signal that governments were willing to double down.
The summit -- moved at the last minute from Chile due to unrest -- at times teetered on the brink of collapse as rich polluters, emerging powerhouses and climate-vulnerable nations groped for common ground in the face of competing national interests.
"Based on the adopted text, there is a glimmer of hope that the heart of the Paris Agreement is still beating," Mohamed Adow, Director of Power Shift, said.
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