UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasized Thursday the urgency of climate action in response to the World Meteorological Organization's confirmation that 2024 is the hottest year on record.
Earlier in the day, the European Union's Copernicus Earth Observation Programme said the year marked the first time global temperatures have exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, a critical threshold set by the Paris Agreement.
While individual years surpassing this limit do not signal the end of the long-term goal, Guterres stressed that stronger action is necessary. With global temperatures rising, extreme events like floods, wildfires, and heatwaves are intensifying. Guterres called on governments to deliver new climate action plans in 2025, supporting vulnerable populations and aiming to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C. "Blazing temperatures in 2024 require trail-blazing climate action in 2025," he said.
