The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
WMO Press conference: State of the Global Climate 2025 report
EMBARGO 23 MARCH 04:00 GMT
UN weather agency warns of record ‘climate imbalance’ as planetary warming accelerates
All-time high greenhouse gas concentrations in our planet’s atmosphere continue to drive heat records on land and sea, with long-lasting consequences for humanity, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has warned.
Hot on the heels of a scorching decade, the UN’s weather agency has said that the Earth’s climate is “more out of balance than at any time in observed history.”
“Between 2015 and 2025, we experienced the hottest 11 years on record,” WMO’s Deputy Executive Secretary Ko Barrett told reporters in Geneva.
2025 itself was some 1.43 degrees Celsius above the 1850 to 1900 baseline, she said, in addition to breaking an ocean heat record.
Presenting a grim overview of the state of the climate in 2025, Ms. Barrett stressed that as glaciers continue to retreat and ice continues to melt, “the warming ocean and melting land-based ice are driving the long-term rise in global mean sea level rise.”
She said that the findings are an inspiration “to work harder to get life-saving forecasts and early warnings into the hands of those who can protect lives and livelihoods” so that they can mitigate the devastating impacts of the ongoing climate turmoil on the most vulnerable.
WMO has been issuing annual climate updates for more than 30 years, and the record figures in the last decade have been an increasing cause for concern.
The agency’s scientific officer John Kennedy said that concentrations in the atmosphere of three key greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide reached record levels in 2024 – the last year for which there are consolidated global numbers, which also marked the single-largest year-on-year increase.
“Data from individual sites around the world indicates that levels of these greenhouse gases continue to increase in 2025” and to modify “the energy balance of the planet,” he added.
Mr. Kennedy explained that under a balanced system, incoming energy from the sun is about the same as the amount of outgoing energy – but this is not the case at present.
“There's less outgoing energy due to the increased concentrations of greenhouse gases… More energy coming in than going out means that energy is accumulating in the Earth's system,” he said.
The Earth's energy imbalance is a new indicator which WMO has started tracking, with results pointing to a notable acceleration in the rate at which warming has been progressing between 2001 and 2025.
“The largest fraction of that absorbed energy is going to the oceans – around 90 per cent of the excess energy in the climate system,” Mr. Kennedy said.
“This matters because over three billion people depend on these marine and coastal resources for their livelihoods. They're living off the ocean, and nearly 11 per cent of the global population live on low-lying coasts directly exposed to coastal hazards,” he concluded.
-Ends-
STORY Climate update – WMO – EMBARGO 23 MARCH 04:00 GMT
TRT: 2:00”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 19 MARCH 2026 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND EMBARGO 23 MARCH 04:00 GMT
1. Exterior wide shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley.
2. Medium shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference.
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Ko Barrett, Deputy Secretary-General, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Between 2015 and 2025, we experienced the hottest 11 years on record. In 2025, our glaciers continue to retreat and ice continues to melt. The warming ocean and melting land-based ice are driving the long-term rise in global mean sea level rise.”
4. Medium reverse shot: Speakers at the podium of the press conference; journalists in the Press room; speaker on screens.
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – John Kennedy, Scientific Officer, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide reached record levels in 2024, which is the last year for which we have consolidated global numbers.”
6. Medium shot: Journalists in the Press room.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – John Kennedy, Scientific Officer, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “It was also the single biggest one-year increase in the record, and data from individual sites around the world indicates that levels of these greenhouse gases continue to increase in 2025. Now these greenhouse gases, along with aerosols and other things in the atmosphere, are modifying the energy balance of the planet.”
8. Medium shot: Journalist in the Press room.
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – John Kennedy, Scientific Officer, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “In the current climate there is an imbalance. We have the same amounts of incoming energy, but there's less outgoing energy due to the increased concentrations of greenhouse gases. And that imbalance with more energy coming in than going out means that energy is accumulating in the Earth's system.”
10. Wide shot: Speaker on screens; journalists in the Press room.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) – John Kennedy, Scientific Officer, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “The largest fraction of that absorbed energy is going to the oceans, around 90 per cent of the excess energy in the climate system. And this matters because over three billion people depend on these marine and coastal resources for their livelihoods. They're living off the ocean, and nearly 11 per cent of the global population live on low-lying coasts directly exposed to coastal hazards, so very vulnerable to things like sea-level rise.”
12. Various shots of journalists in the Press room.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNHCR
Aid teams working to help millions of people uprooted by the ongoing war in Sudan appealed on Friday for more international assistance amid desperate funding shortages, empty warehouses and overwhelming needs.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNHCR , IOM , UNICEF , WHO
UNHCR / IOM: Millions at risk of losing emergency shelter as funding runs out; UNHCR: warns of severe climate risks facing displaced people ahead of COP31, UNICEF: children in Ukraine face major water supply disruptions amid attacks on energy infrastructure; WHO: together for science and health.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Ukraine has sustained almost 2,000 attacks on education since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, with some 270 this year alone, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | ILO , ITU , UNFPA , UNICEF , WHO
UNICEF: Education Cannot Wait (ECW) High-Level Replenishment Conference - mobilising funding for education for children affected by crises; Children in Ukraine have two-thirds of school hours disrupted by daily air-raid alarms. UNFPA: Yemen: conditions for women and girls in the besieged city of Taizz and in IDP camps; the status of maternal health facilities/services in Taizz City and in other conflict-affected areas. ILO: “Women in Business and Management report: Scaling Success". ITU: Facts and Figures 2026 report on global digital connectivity. WMO and International Ski and Snowboard Federation new guide on weather and climate services for ski resorts; WMO State of Climate Update at COP31
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
More than 280,000 people have now been displaced by fighting in Yemen and many vulnerable people are unable to access lifesaving relief because it is too dangerous to do so, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OCHA , UN , UNHCR
UN Joint Inspection Unit: JIU at 60 - Who Holds the UN System Accountable? From Recommendations to Results – How Independent System-wide Oversight Contributes to Change; UNHCR: UNHCR winter appeal: 9m people urgently need winter aid as resources dwindle and temperatures slide; Refugees in Yemen trapped between conflict, displacement and dangerous journeys
1
1
1
Edited News | UN
Tour guides at UN Geneva turned heads at the Palace of Nations on Thursday as they unveiled stylish new uniforms, designed in partnership with leading Italian sustainable fashion designers and manufacturers.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WMO , UNHCR , WHO , ILO
WMO: Greenhouse Gas Bulletin; UNHCR: As attacks intensify UNHCR urges support for war ravaged Ukrainians; WHO: Clinical trials in DRC: vaccines and beyond; ILO: New global and regional estimates on domestic work, informality and working conditions
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WFP
Aid agencies warned on Friday of the fast-developing humanitarian emergency inside Taiz City in Yemen, which has been encircled by de facto Houthi forces fighting government troops along the country’s west coast.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UN WOMEN , WFP , WHO
UN WOMEN: Sudan Women and girls one year after the fall of El Fasher; increasing drone attacks across the country; WFP: DRC - Ebola spreads to eighth DRC province as WFP delivers food, builds treatment centres and keeps supplies moving; WHO - Update on Ebola (Bundibugyo Virus Disease)
1
12
1
1
Press Conferences , Images | UNOG
Closing Press Conference following the Sixth Consultative Meeting on Enhancing Coordination of Peace Initiatives and Efforts in Sudan
2
17
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | OCHA , WMO
Two UN agencies teamed up on Wednesday to issue an appeal for immediate assistance to help communities already being impacted by the strongest El Niño on record.