Our key takeaway: In its latest data on weather trends, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has reported sobering information: not only are we on track to exceed 1.5°C above preindustrial levels for at least one year between 2023-2027, we are also 98% likely to experience the warmest temperature on record and the warmest five year temperature average. WMO’s word: “Note that the 1.5°C level specified in the Paris Agreement refers to long- term warming over many years, but temporary exceedances are expected to occur with increasing frequency as global temperatures approach the long-term threshold.” Nearly 12,000 extreme weather, climate and water-related events have occurred over the past 50 years, causing more than 2 million people to lose their lives and resulting in USD 4.3 trillion of economic losses. In developing countries and small-island developing states, the number of deaths and dollar amount of damage has been “disproportionately” high, reflecting the extent to which marginalised populations continue to bear the brunt of the worst effects of climate change. It’s time to pay very very very serious attention to companies’ role in contributing to climate change - as well as its role in tackling it.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has released new climate data in its Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update Target years: 2023 and 2023-2027 (May 2023) and as part of its database Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water-related Hazards: