Scorching Milestone: 2024 Poised to Shatter Global Temperature Records

United Nations Secretary-General Guterres“Today, the World Meteorological Organization and its partners tell us that 2024 may be the hottest year on record. Humanity is burning the planet and paying the price.”

A new multi-agency flagship report from the World Meteorological Organization, The State of Climate Services, finds progress in providing climate information for decision-making over the past five years, but large gaps remain and investment lags far behind demand.

The report points out that by 2024, one-third of national meteorological and hydrological services will be able to provide “basic” level climate services, and nearly one-third will be able to provide “advanced” or “comprehensive” level climate services. Countries in Asia and Africa have made strides in improving their capabilities thanks to access to targeted adaptation finance, the report said.

The report stated that 2023 will be the warmest year on record, and the unprecedented warmth will continue until 2024. Many extreme climate phenomena are becoming more frequent and intense. While the number of reported weather- and climate-related deaths is gradually decreasing due to better warnings and disaster risk management, economic losses are increasing.

Flooding will remain the most commonly reported hazard from 2020 to mid-2024. However, heat-related hazards have become the leading cause of death, accounting for 57% of total weather, water and climate-related deaths reported globally.

The gap lies in

The report says that too few countries are creating tailored climate services, and there are still many gaps in observation network coverage in least developed countries and small island developing states, for example. Less than 20% of NMHSs have conducted socio-economic benefit assessments of their weather, climate and hydrological services in the past decade.

There are also important gaps in co-developing climate services that recognize the specific impacts of climate-related risks on children, women, people with disabilities, and marginalized social and livelihood groups. Furthermore, the involvement of children and youth as key partners in the co-development and inclusive communication of climate services has not yet been fully addressed, and education, as a key sector, has not yet been integrated into global and national climate services frameworks.

UNEP calls for financial commitments to strengthen adaptation efforts

at the same time,United Nations Environment ProgramHeld in Baku, AzerbaijanThe 29th United Nations Climate Change ConferenceOn the eve of (COP29), a document titled“Adaptation Gap Report 2024: Through fire and water”The report pointed out that countries must significantly strengthen adaptation efforts starting from the financial action commitments made at COP29.

The report highlights that a huge gap between adaptation finance needs and current international public flows of adaptation finance is hampering the achievement of this goal. International public adaptation funds flowing to developing countries will increase from US$22 billion in 2021 to US$28 billion in 2022 – the largest absolute and relative year-on-year growth since the signing of the Paris Agreement.

This reflects progress under the Glasgow Climate Agreement, which urges developed countries to at least double adaptation finance to developing countries in 2025 from around $19 billion (2019 levels). However, even achieving the goals of the Glasgow Climate Agreement would only close the adaptation finance gap by about 5%.

Planning and implementation progress is slow

The report states that in terms of planning, 171 countries have currently formulated at least one national-level adaptation planning instrument, that is, a policy, strategy or plan. Of the 26 countries that do not have a national planning instrument in place, 10 have no signs of developing one; 7 of these are conflict-affected or fragile states, and if the UAE Global Climate Resilience Framework is to be achieved by 2030 Regarding the planning goals in China, it is necessary to provide these countries with a large amount of targeted support.

Furthermore, the potential effectiveness of NAPs in developing countries is variable, requiring dedicated support to ensure that adaptation planning is translated into meaningful action in these circumstances.

increase funds

Given the scale of the challenge, closing the adaptation financing gap will also require innovative approaches to mobilize additional financial resources, the report said. For both the public and private sectors, stronger enablers, new approaches and financial instruments are key to unlocking finance for adaptation.

Capacity Building and Technology

The report notes that capacity-building and technology transfer need to be strengthened to increase the effectiveness of adaptation actions.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeCapacity and technology needs are mentioned almost everywhere in the document, focusing mainly on water, food and agriculture. However, current efforts to address these needs are often uncoordinated, costly, and short-lived. Furthermore, there is little evidence that these efforts benefit marginalized and underrepresented groups.

The report recommends that interventions mobilize existing capacities, have a balanced emphasis on technology and enabling conditions, and include gender equality and social inclusion as core considerations.