UN chief stresses urgent need for climate action after hottest year on record

HAMILTON, Canada

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday highlighted the severity of the climate crisis, saying that it requires "trail-blazing climate action in 2025."

"Global heating is a cold, hard fact," Guterres said in a statement after Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recently reported 2024 as the hottest year on record.

Noting that 2024 is likely to be the first calendar year with a global mean temperature exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, Guterres said: "Individual years pushing past the 1.5 degree limit do not mean the long-term goal is shot. It means we need to fight even harder to get on track."

"Blazing temperatures in 2024 require trail-blazing climate action in 2025," he said.

Saying that new national climate action plans must be delivered this year to limit long-term global temperature rise to 1.5°C, and stressed the need to support vulnerable communities facing devastating climate impacts.

"There's still time to avoid the worst of climate catastrophe. But leaders must act – now," he said.

WMO on Friday announced that 2024 was the hottest year on record, at 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.