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 | UN WOMEN
In Sudan’s El Obeid, women risk drone attacks by day and rape by night to access water
As war intensifies in the city of El Obeid in North Kordofan state, filling up a jerrycan of water comes at a high risk for women and girls: by day, drones strike water points and by night, women who venture out to fill a bucket risk rape. UN Women warns of a dual terror that has turned access to water into a deadly gamble.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokesperson Shabia Mantoo made the following remarks on stranded Hormuz seafarers abandoned for months at sea, at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IFRC , OHCHR , UNHCR , WFP , WHO , UN WOMEN
UNHCR: 75 years of the Refugee Convention; UN Women: El Obeid, Sudan - drone attacks and sexual violence - no safety window for women and girls; WFP: Gaza operations update; OHCHR: Stranded Hormuz seafarers abandoned for months; IFRC: Urgent humanitarian needs in Venezuela, one month after devastating earthquakes; WHO PROTECT: drowning prevention strategies for policymakers
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva, Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Danielle Bell, head of UN Human Rights’ Ukraine team, spoke of the deepening impact of the war on the civilian population.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following remarks Intensified Israeli attacks in Gaza.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DR Congo: Ebola outbreak continues to expand, WHO sees signs of stabilization
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN health teams and partners are still racing to contain the rapidly expanding Ebola outbreak, despite ongoing insecurity in eastern areas where the virus has taken hold. As of 19 July, the DRC Government has recorded 2,423 confirmed cases, including 967 deaths and 469 patient recoveries.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IOM , OHCHR , UNHCR , WHO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons and representatives of the World Health Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokeperson Jeremy Laurence appealed for calm in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir amid a wave of unrest ahead of regional elections at the end of the month.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
UN humanitarians working in war-torn Sudan warned on Friday of growing dramatic needs among the more than 100,000 displaced people now sheltering in camps in the city of El Obeid. "We are providing even not the full food ration to the people, but even that reduced food ration is being shared by the recipients with other families, because they know that they don't have any other source of income," said World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan Country Director Abdallah Alwardat.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IOM , OHCHR , UN WOMEN , WHO , WFP
WFP: Mass displacement from El Obeid as food stocks run low; IOM: Ebola outbreak in the East, Horn and Southern Africa region; OHCHR: Wave of unrest in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir; UN WOMEN: Report launch: Women on the Move in Europe and Central Asia
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘This is a fire’: DRC Ebola outbreak is fastest-growing ever, warns WHO
Infections of the Bundibugyo species of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have reached record highs and a majority of new cases are coming from “unknown chains of transmission”, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNHCR , UNOG , WHO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing which was attended by spokespersons and representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Health Organization.