2024 Set to Break Heat Records Amidst COP29 Climate Talks

The World Meteorological Organization forecasts 2024 as the warmest year on record, highlighting urgent climate challenges at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The meeting stresses the fragility of the Paris Agreement goals and focuses on a new financial commitment to replace the previous $100 billion target set in 2009.

On the outset of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) projected that 2024 is likely on course to become the hottest year globally. This dire forecast, issued on the first day of the international climate conference, underscores escalating climate concerns threatening the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The Paris Agreement, enacted in 2016, aims to keep global temperature increases below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, ideally limiting rises to 1.5°C. However, with average temperatures from January to September 2024 already rising by 1.54°C, fueled by El Nino, the agreement's ambitions appear increasingly precarious.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres underscored the climate crisis's adverse effects on health, inequality, and peace. WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo urged rigorous emission reduction and enhanced climate change adaptations, pointing to the need for urgent global action. COP29 will also deliberate on a new financial target to aid developing nations.

(With inputs from agencies.)