Blazing temp in 2024 require trail-blazing climate action in ‘25

Antonio Guterres

Today’s assessment from the World Meteorological Organization is clear: Global heating is a cold, hard fact.

We have just endured the hottest decade on record – with 2024 topping the list, and likely to be the first calendar year with a global mean temperature of more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

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.

Specifically, governments must deliver new national climate action plans this year to limit long-term global temperature rise to 1.5°C, and support the most vulnerable deal with devastating climate impacts.

There's still time to avoid the worst of climate catastrophe. But leaders must act – now. – Statement of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on 2024, the hottest year on record.