World feels the heat of climate change

No giving up

Despite his disappointment at the outcome of COP25, Guterres said: "We must not give up, and I will not give up. I am more determined than ever to work for 2020 to be the year in which all countries commit to do what science tells us is necessary to reach carbon neutrality in 2050 and no more than a 1.5 C temperature rise," he said.

According to grassroots environmental advocacy group The Climate Mobilization, nearly 1,300 local governments and several national administrations have declared a climate emergency, covering a population of more than 800 million.

In his message for the new year, delivered on Dec 29, Guterres said young people are the world's "great source" of hope.

He was referring in large part to the youth climate movement led by 17-year-old Swede Greta Thunberg, a key player at COP25. In August 2018, she began to skip school classes and protest outside the Swedish parliament, triggering the global Fridays for Future movement by students in more than 130 countries demanding action on climate change.

On Dec 11, during COP25, Thunberg was named Time magazine's Person of the Year.

The global movement Extinction Rebellion, founded in the United Kingdom in 2018, now covers some 70 countries worldwide.

It has resorted to civil disobedience to spread the climate change message. Action taken on Dec 14 during COP25 involved dumping horse manure in front of the conference venue.

Some observers see a ray of hope in the latest International Energy Agency report, which projects warming of 2.9 C to 3.4 C, compared with its prediction at the start of the 2010s of a catastrophic warming of 6 C by the end of century.

The growth of renewable energy has also far exceeded expectations. Prices of solar photovoltaic systems, which covert sunlight into electricity, have dropped by 81 percent since 2009. According to Kelly Levin, a senior associate at the World Resources Institute, by 2017, the majority of new power-generating capacity added worldwide came from renewable energy. But she warned, "We are not acting quickly enough."

Countries worldwide are expected to raise their goals at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, from Nov 9 to 19, just days after the US presidential election, with Democrat candidates pledging to rejoin the Paris agreement if they win.

Taalas, from the WMO, said the world has the means to solve the climate change problem through nuclear energy, hydropower and renewables.

"There is a sense of urgency. We need transformation within 10 to 30 years for our energy, transportation and industries," he said.