Guterres, who arrived to attend the meeting that opened this Thursday in this city in the United Arab Emirates, said that the world is warming at an unprecedented rate, as new climate data shows, and that the heads of state gathered there and heads of government have to bring us out of serious problems. .
“Record global heat should give world leaders goosebumps and spur them to action,” he said.
Although 2023 is not over yet, a report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that it will be the warmest year on record, with global temperatures rising 1.4 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
In a video statement to launch the report on the first day of this year’s COP28 climate debate, the head of the largest international organization stressed that “we are witnessing a climate breakdown in real time and the impacts are devastating.”
According to the WMO report, the Antarctic Sea’s maximum ice extent this year was an incredible one million square kilometers below the previous record low at the end of the Southern Hemisphere winter, while glaciers in western North America and the European Alps were also affected by a period of extremes melting.
Due to the ongoing warming of the oceans as well as the melting of glaciers and the disappearance of ice sheets, a record rise in sea level is also being observed, the text from the weather agency says.
Meanwhile, atmospheric concentrations of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide hit record levels last year and continued to rise in 2023, with CO2 levels up to 50 percent above pre-industrial levels, meaning temperatures will continue to rise.
These are more than just statistics, said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas, calling for action to limit the risks of an increasingly inhospitable climate in this century and beyond.
The WMO report highlights the dire impacts of climate change on lives, health and livelihoods, highlighting that communities suffering from extreme weather conditions faced food insecurity and displacement throughout the year.
Guterres pointed to the existing roadmap to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees and called on governments to set clear expectations for the next round of climate action plans and invest in their implementation.
rgh/crc