“Every fraction of a degree means more hunger, displacement and loss – especially for those least responsible. This could push ecosystems beyond irreversible tipping points, expose billions of people to unlivable conditions and amplify threats to peace and security,” Mr. Guterres told leaders in Belém.
Failure to contain global warming is equivalent to “moral failure and fatal neglect“, he added.
Each warmer year, he said, “will hit economies, widen inequality and have a harder impact on developing countries – even if they are the least responsible”.
“After decades of denial and delay, science now tells us that a temporary breach of the 1.5°C limit – starting no later than the early 2030s – is inevitable,” Mr. Guterres continued.
Paradigm shift
“We need a fundamental paradigm shift to limit the scale and duration of this overshoot and reduce it quickly.. Even a temporary overrun would result in far greater destruction and costs for every nation.
Echoing his remarks, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Chief Celeste Saulo said greenhouse gas emissions have now reached their highest level in 800,000 years.
“From January to August this year, Earth’s average temperature was around 1.42°C above pre-industrial levels, with oceans also reaching record highs, which is inflict lasting damage on marine ecosystems and economies“, she said.
2025 on track to be one of the hottest years ever
The planet’s relentless warming trend has shown no signs of slowing, and 2025 is expected to be the second or third hottest year on record, according to the report. Global Climate Status Update 2025 published Thursday by the WMO.
He warns that The 11-year period from 2015 to 2025 will be the warmest period since records began 176 years ago.
“This series of unprecedented high temperatures, combined with last year’s record increase in greenhouse gas levels, makes it clear that it will be virtually impossible to limit global warming to 1.5°C over the next few years without temporarily exceeding this target,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
A reversal still possible
She emphasized that science still shows that it is possible to bring temperatures below this threshold by the end of the century.
The report paints a grim picture of worsening climate impacts. Arctic sea ice reached its lowest winter maximum on record, while Antarctic sea ice remained well below average.
Global sea level rise, almost twice as fast as in the 1990s, has continued to accelerate due to warming oceans and melting ice.
Extreme weather events – from devastating floods and storms to prolonged heat waves and wildfires – have disrupted food systems, displaced communities and hampered economic development in many regions.
“Red line for humanity”
The Secretary-General told COP30 that the 1.5°C limit remains “a red line for humanity”, calling for rapid emissions reductions, an accelerated phase-out of fossil fuels and stronger protection of forests and oceans.
Mr. Guterres highlighted the growing momentum of the clean energy revolution, noting that investments in renewable energy now exceed those in fossil fuels by $800 billion. “Clean energy is gaining in price, performance and potential,” he said, “but what is still lacking is political courage.”
Also addressing delegates, Marinez Scherer, COP30 special envoy for oceans, urged nations to join efforts for forests and oceans, calling them a « living system » that shapes the planet’s climate.
“The science is clear: we can only solve the climate crisis if we act together for the ocean,” she said, pointing to the Amazon and the Atlantic as symbols of this connection.
Dr. Scherer, a marine biologist and coastal management expert at the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil, noted that the ocean produces more than half of the planet’s oxygen, absorbs 90 percent of excess heat and supports billions of livelihoods – yet receives less than 1 percent of global climate funding.
“Protecting the ocean and the Amazon is not only an environmental imperative, but also a collective act of survival,” she said. “The ocean can’t wait, and neither can we. »
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
