UN Climate Change

Feeding ourselves is getting more expensive with climate change.     Extreme weather events like droughts, floods and heatwaves are hitting our food systems with shocks that crops can't keep up with. When crops are damaged or lost, supply drops, and with that food prices climb. Cabbage prices were up 70% after the 2024 heatwave in South Korea. In 2024 a heatwave in India saw the prices of onions up by 89%. And, in Niger prices fall at harvest but then climb up again months later which deepens food insecurity in the lean season. Right now, in Europe, rivers are running at record lows and wildfires are burning through our forests and fields. 9 million tonnes of grain is expected to be lost this year, and France is on track for the worst harvest season in 50 years.  Accelerating the transition to clean energy and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels- such as oil, gas, coal- isn't just about cutting emissions. It's also about building resilient food systems and protecting the food we love.  

The climate alarm is blaring, from every direction.    Around the world, climate-driven disasters are reaching nightmare proportions, as the costs of humanity’s addiction to burning coal, oil and gas keep spiraling upwards.   These record-breaking wildfires tearing through France, Spain and other parts of Europe, forcing mass evacuations and hammering regional and national economies, follow brutal heatwaves that have dried out landscapes.  With the mercury set to soar again this week, the awful costs of this climate crisis – both human and economic – are now reaching national emergency levels.   In North Africa, temperatures are approaching 49°C, putting lives and livelihoods in grave jeopardy, and putting hospitals and power systems under severe strain. In Chile, deadly storms have destroyed homes and lives. While in Japan, records are tumbling as temperatures soar, now reaching the longest 40°C heat streak ever recorded.   These spiraling disasters are now the lived reality for billions in a world getting rapidly hotter, as humanity moves too slowly from fossil fuels to clean energy and to protect forests.   The science on the cause is unequivocal: global heating, driven by humanity burning colossal amounts of coal, oil and gas, is making protracted heatwaves, severe floods and violent mega-storms more frequent, more intense and more costly. What needs to be done is equally clear: leave coal, oil and gas behind faster, scale up renewables, and protect people where the impacts are already hitting hardest. Many vulnerable countries on the frontlines need support to move at the speed and scale this crisis demands.

This morning I convened an Interactive Dialogue on Accelerating the Global Energy Transition here at UN Headquarters, and the room made one thing clear: the direction is no longer in question. The speed and fairness are.   And the numbers back it up. In 2025 renewables made up the largest single-year capacity addition ever recorded. Nearly $2.2 trillion is flowing into clean energy this year, almost double what's going into fossil fuels. Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, was direct: finance is essential for countries to benefit from the transition and build resilience. International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)'s Francesco La Camera put it simply: geography no longer decides who has power. Policy does.   Selwin Hart, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Climate Action, reminded us the transition itself is no longer in doubt. As he said, this revolution is "unstoppable and irreversible."   While China, the US and the EU captured nearly 80% of new renewable capacity in 2025, Africa captured just 1.6%, despite holding some of the best solar potential on Earth. This gap is closing up, from island nations who just need a handful of turbines to power an entire grid, but can't get the financing matched to the project.   The solutions exist. The finance exists. What's missing is the matching. That's the work ahead of us, and it's why we brought this conversation to the heart of the United Nations today.   #EnergyTransition #ClimateAction #ParisAgreement #UNGA80

As the realities of fossil fuel dependency - and its spiraling costs - play out in real- time, three things are increasingly clear: 👉 That faster energy transitions are core business for governments, and core to national security strategies. 👉 That doubling-down on renewables is in every country’s clear interests. 👉 Electrification is a golden ticket to more prosperity and stability – including for small island developing states, like the one I'm from. We also need to see much faster and fairer transitions to climate-resilience. This year has made the case yet again, as harvests are threatened by extreme heat and worsening drought, the climate-supercharged impacts of El Niño, and fertiliser shortages. Accelerated actions - both to speed up the shift to renewables and boost resilience - are now a vital basis of long-term peace and security around the world. Climate finance is essential for countries to bank the vast benefits of the energy transition and build resilience. Developed countries must honour their commitments to triple adaptation finance and deliver $300 billion a year by 2035. As part of a clear pathway to scaling to $1.3 trillion a year. Read my full remarks at the General Assembly’s dialogue on accelerating the global energy transition here: https://lnkd.in/eyfjhsPJ 📸 Saranya Misra/OPGA

For years, mass coral bleaching has often been linked to the natural climate phenomenon El Niño. But new research led by Climate Central, Inc. found that human-caused climate change has been the key factor contributing to global coral bleaching events for the past 40 years. Whilst El Niño can add extra warmth to our oceans, it is the long-term heating of our oceans, caused by burning fossil fuels, that is pushing corals past their tipping point. Without climate change, coral bleaching would be a rare and isolated event. The IPCC has warned that we could lose up to 90% of coral reefs by 2050 if warming exceeds 1.5°C. As our oceans continue to warm, coral reefs are facing increasing pressure. By rapidly cutting fossil fuel emissions and switching to clean energy sources, we give coral reefs the best chance of a future. Read the research here: https://lnkd.in/eqUwCX5W

The climate crisis is not a problem for someone else to solve in the future. It affects us all, right now, irrespective of country borders. 🌎🌍🌏 Droughts, floods, heatwaves, storms and wildfires are causing severe damage to lives and livelihoods around the world, as the climate crisis gets rapidly worse. The good news is the solutions already exist: clean energy protects our climate. It also boosts economies and jobs, and is now cheaper and safer than fossil fuels. Building climate resilience protects the things we need – like secure and affordable food and access to energy – as well as the people, places and moments we love.

LIVE: UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell addresses the press in New Delhi during an official mission to India. Tune in now on Youtube ▶️ https://lnkd.in/dCpstZWr 

No matter who you think deserves the trophy more, there’s a bigger story around this World Cup: extreme heat.   Climate change is making dangerous heat more intense and more frequent – and it’s changing the game we love.   By the time 94 of 104 matches had been played, more than one in four matches had already taken place in dangerous heat conditions that the players’ union FIFPRO says are severe enough that matches should be delayed or rescheduled to protect players’ health.   This #WorldCup may be ending, but football isn’t. If we want the beautiful game to thrive, we need to rapidly scale up clean energy and invest in climate resilience to protect the things we need, like secure and affordable food, and the people, places and moments we love.

The Renewable Energy Statistics 2026 released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) today shows that renewable electricity generation grew by 9.8% in 2024 — significantly higher than the growth rate recorded in 2023 and the fastest growth ever. The data also confirms the dominance of solar and wind power. Since 2010, variable renewables like solar and wind grew fastest. Non-renewables continued to fall behind with an increase of 1.4% over the same period. Overall, renewables accounted for 31.7% of the electricity generation globally in 2024, totaling 9 836 terawatt hours (TWh). This new data also shows: to achieve the global electrification target of 35% of final energy demand by 2035 would require renewables to increase their share in global electricity generation from 31.7% in 2024 to 78% by 2035 — around 2.5 times today’s level. However, this vast progress is not yet fast and inclusive enough. Delivering on climate finance pledges is essential to support countries in all regions of the world to tap into the vast benefits of the clean energy transition. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/d6MPrVka

Fires are getting more intense and more frequent as climate change raises temperatures, dries out vegetation, and creates longer, more dangerous fire seasons. These fires put our health at risk through smoke and toxic air, threaten ecosystems and biodiversity, and create major economic losses and rising costs for emergency response, recovery, and rebuilding. With stronger climate action and early prevention systems, we can limit the worst impacts and build safer, more resilient communities.