Enviro News Asia, Geneva — The World Meteorological Organization released one of its most alarming reports this year during World Meteorological Day 2026 on 23 March 2026. The report, titled State of the Global Climate 2025, confirms that the period from 2015 to 2025 represents the eleven hottest years ever recorded in human history. The year 2025 itself ranks as the second or third warmest on record, with global average temperatures reaching approximately 1.43°C above the 1850–1900 baseline—long used as the benchmark under the Paris Agreement.
The findings prompted a strong response from António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations. “The global climate is in a state of emergency. The planet is being pushed beyond its limits. Every major climate indicator is flashing red,” he stated in an official release accompanying the WMO report. He added that when such extreme records occur eleven times consecutively, it is no longer coincidence but an urgent call for world leaders to take immediate and concrete action.
A significant development in this year’s report is the inclusion of Earth’s energy imbalance as a key climate indicator for the first time. The WMO notes that the global oceans have absorbed energy equivalent to roughly 18 times the total annual energy consumption of humanity over the past two decades. Celeste Saulo described this as a “warning signal that cannot be ignored,” emphasizing that continued ocean heat absorption will intensify extreme weather events, coral bleaching, and widespread marine ecosystem disruption.
The report also highlights increasingly concerning sea-level rise. By the end of 2025, global mean sea level had risen approximately 11 centimeters compared to 1993, when satellite-based measurements began. More alarming is the acceleration rate: from 2.65 mm per year during 1993–2011 to 4.75 mm per year during 2012–2025. Scientists warn that this trend threatens millions of people in coastal regions, particularly in island nations and major river deltas across Asia and Africa.
The State of the Global Climate 2025 report comes ahead of the COP30, scheduled to take place in Belém in November 2026. Climate scientists and diplomats describe the report as the strongest scientific case yet for countries to enhance their emission reduction targets. Bill Hare, Climate Director at Climate Analytics, warned that without significantly accelerated collective action, the world risks heading toward 2.5°C to 3°C of warming by the end of the century—a scenario scientists describe as a “predictable but avoidable catastrophe.” (*)
