By Janet Ekstract NEW YORK- United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that the global climate crisis has accelerated to the breaking point when he gave his video address to launch World Meteorological Organization Global State of the Climate in 2023 Report. Guterres underscored facts about the climate gleaned from the current WMO report that highlights that the “cost of climate inaction is higher than the cost of climate action.” As the U.N. chief commented: “Earth’s issuing a distress call,” and that we are “a planet on the brink.” The secretary general pointed out that in 2023, that sea levels “rapidly accelerated” to the point of “chart-busting” levels and that 2023 goes on record as being the hottest year ever. A huge problem is fossil fuel pollution which Guterres said is “sending climate chaos off the charts.” He added that in 2023, there were “record heat, record sea levels and record ocean surface temperatures. Glaciers likely lost more ice than ever before.”
A major takeaway from this report is that climate impacts the global socioeconomic situation with severe climate events affecting agricultural sectors, water supplies, animals and habitats as well as seas, lakes, rivers. The most recent of these hitting every continent have been major flooding, severe drought, severe hurricane seasons, uncontrollable wildfires along with unseasonal weather changes. An example is extreme rainfall that caused major flooding from Mediterranean Cyclone Daniel which affected Greece, Bulgaria. Turkiye and Libya which was hit very hard with a large loss of life. Meanwhile, South America, Southern Europe and North Africa saw extreme heat with temperatures rising above 55C.
Guterres said that the report shows “we came perilously close to the global temperature temporarily rising 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. He said that “we can still keep our planet’s long-term temperature rise below that limit” if climate commitments by countries are kept and if certain steps are taken. The U.N. chief highlighted four steps that need to be taken to achieve the goal of saving the planet:
By accelerating the inevitable end of the fossil fuel age – with the G20 leading a just global energy transition;
By countries producing national climate plans by 2025 that cover the whole economy and align with the 1.5 degree limit;
By delivering finance for climate action in developing countries, including to adapt to extreme weather;
By protecting every person on Earth with an early warning system by 2027; And by putting meaningful resources into the new Loss and Damage Fund. There’s still time to throw out a lifeline to people and planet.
But leaders must step up and act – now.
As Guterres said: “The impact of all this is stark, brutal and accelerating with a deadly force.”
