Baku [Azerbaijan], November 11 : The year 2024 is on track to be the warmest on record, with exceptionally high monthly global mean temperatures, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said.
This alarming warning was issued on the first day of the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), currently underway in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11 to 22.
The report issued on the first day of the COP29 also highlighted that the ambitions of the Paris Agreement are in great peril.
Notably, the Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015. It entered into force on 4 November 2016.
Its overarching goal is to hold "the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels" and pursue efforts "to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels."
The January - September 2024 global mean surface air temperature was 1.54°C (with a margin of uncertainty of +-0.13°C) above the pre-industrial average, boosted by a warming El Nino event, according to an analysis of six international datasets used by WMO.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern over climate change and said that this climate catastrophe is devastating health, intensifying inequalities, harming sustainable development, and threatening global peace.
"Climate catastrophe is hammering health, widening inequalities, harming sustainable development, and rocking the foundations of peace. The vulnerable are hardest hit," Guterres said.
"As monthly and annual warming temporarily surpass 1.5°C, it is important to emphasise that this does not mean that we have failed to meet the Paris Agreement goal to keep the long-term global average surface temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the warming to 1.5°C," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
"Recorded global temperature anomalies at daily, monthly and annual timescales are prone to large variations, partly because of natural phenomena such as El Nino and La Nina. They should not be equated to the long-term temperature goal set in the Paris Agreement, which refers to global temperature levels sustained as an average over decades... We urgently need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen our monitoring and understanding of our changing climate. We need to step up support for climate change adaptation through climate information services and Early Warnings for All," said Saulo.
The first Conference of the Parties (COP) was held in Berlin almost 30 years ago. This year's conference will aim to increase international ambition to curb global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius pre-industrial levels to avoid catastrophic harm to the planet.
Countries will focus on pushing for more ambitious emissions reductions and identifying new sources of finance. Among the most contentious issues that remain are how much money developed nations will provide, and who should provide climate finance.
This year's summit is focused on a new financial commitment, known as the "New Collective Quantified Goal" (NCQG). Countries are expected to replace the previous USD 100 billion annual commitment to developing countries from the 2009 Copenhagen Accord.
The new target, known as the NCQG or the "Finance COP," will be under discussion at this COP and is intended to take effect from 2025 onwards.