Last year was the hottest on record. Now, after a summer of blistering heat, climate experts say we’re on course to beat 2023.
Data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), released Friday, reveals that this summer, June to August reached 0.69°C above historical averages, overtaking 2023.
Indeed, according to Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), during the past three months of 2024, the globe endured the hottest June and August, the hottest day on record, and the hottest boreal summer on record.
“This string of record temperatures is increasing the likelihood of 2024 being the hottest year on record,” said Burgess.
According to C3S, August was 1.51°C above the pre-industrial level and is the 13th month in a 14-month period for which the global average surface air temperature exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
C3S said that in order for 2024 not to surpass 2023 as the hottest year on record, the average anomaly for the remaining months of this year would need to drop by at least 0.30°C. This has never happened in the entire ERA5 dataset, it said.
The data also shows that the equatorial Pacific had below-average temperatures, which it says indicates a developing La Niña – a climate pattern of ocean cooling, in contrast to El Niño’s warming – but sea surface temperatures across the oceans remained unusually high over many regions.
Record Heat Causes Death and Destruction
Soaring temperatures have resulted in destruction and chaos for millions this year, with thousands losing their lives.
From record-setting forest fires to the worst floods in decades, there is no part of the world that has been left untouched.
In a statement this week, Burgess outlined the situation will only intensify without action: “The temperature-related extreme events witnessed this summer will only become more intense, with more devastating consequences for people and the planet unless we take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
Yet, global energy-related CO2 emissions reached a new high last year; climate finance remains minuscule, fossil fuel investment, exploration and expansion continue at scale, and false climate “solutions” abound.
Despite the devastation unfolding, the “urgent action” Burgess speaks of—that which climate scientists have been calling for for decades—is not being realised, while those who have least contributed to the crisis, are the ones battling on the front lines.
Indeed, last week, when visiting Tonga for the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, the UN Secretary-General spoke of how the Pacific Islands are “uniquely exposed” to rising sea levels, with an average elevation of just one to two metres above sea level.
“Without drastic cuts in emissions, the Pacific Islands can expect at least 15 centimeters of additional sea level rise by mid-century,” said Guterres, noting that rising seas are a crisis “entirely of humanity’s making.”
Inaction & Lack of Finance Ahead of Climate Talks
This news of yet more record-breaking heat and rising seas comes just a few months ahead of COP29.
Set to be hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November, it is the third consecutive COP to be held in a petrostate.
As the countdown begins, there remains a question mark over what progress will be made regarding energy transition commitments.
Previously, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has called the country’s oil and gas reserves a “gift from god,” while COP29 CEO Elnur Soltanov said the world should “delineate” between a 1.5C alignment and “hydrocarbons,” advocating for the focus to be shifted to emissions.
This week, following COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev’s visit to Tonga, Joseph Zane Sikulu, a member of the Pacific Climate Warriors and Pacific Director for 350.org, penned an open letter to the former oil exec and Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources and called for “action,” stating that fossil fuels are “at the root of this crisis.”
Sikulu urged the COP29 President-Designate to lead the world towards an “ambitious and fair new collective finance goal” to facilitate the global energy transition.
The climate activist also called out the COP29 fund, which he dubbed a “greenwashing fund,” noting that it will allow industry to continue with “business as usual.”
“The fund masks the ongoing expansion of fossil fuel production by SOCAR, your state oil company which is set to be the first to contribute,” said Sikulu, adding that the fund will operate at market rates instead of concessional finance. He called this a “pitiful gesture” when set against the “colossal sums needed for genuine climate action and reparations.”
Climate finance will be high on the agenda at COP29, with countries set to agree to a new collective quantified goal (NCQG) for finance—something that has been the subject of much debate and disagreement in the lead-up to the climate talks.
Indeed, according to the Climate Policy Initiative, in 2020/21, less than 3 per cent of total global climate finance went to or within the least developed countries. Trillions will be required annually to implement developing countries’ climate action plans.
Yet, earlier this week, a new World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report warned that Africa is not only warming at a faster rate than the global average but also faces a disproportionately high and increasing climate change bill—all the while being responsible for only a fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Indeed, countries in the continent are diverting up to 9 per cent of their budgets to responding to climate extremes, with some losing between 2 and 5 per cent of GDP.
On Thursday at the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, called out what he said is an “epidemic of underinvestment” in Africa.
“Of the more than $400 billion spent on clean energy last year, only $2.6 billion went to African nations,” said Stiell, noting that renewable energy investment in Africa must grow at least fivefold by 2030.
“COP29 in Baku must signal that the climate crisis is core business for every government, with finance solutions to match,” said Stiell.
Adding: “Nations must agree a new international climate finance goal. And ensure that it is grounded in the needs of developing countries.”
Stiell noted that while domestic action and finance will remain “crucial,” more support – including more international climate finance – is needed.