UN: 2023 broke every single climate indicator

Rachel Mealey: The World Meteorological Organization says things could get worse before it gets better when it comes to the climate crisis. In a new report, the UN Weather Agency says 2023 set new records for every single climate indicator, with average temperatures rising to their highest point in the 174 years of recorded history. This comes as experts gather today in Canberra for a climate forum, as Anna Pykett reports.

Anna Pykett: Some records aren't just chart topping, they're chart busting. The words of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Antonio Guterres: Earth is issuing a distress call. Fossil fuel pollution is sending climate chaos off the charts. Sirens are blaring across all major indicators. Last year saw record heat, record sea levels, and record ocean surface temperatures. Glaciers likely lost more ice than ever before. And changes are speeding-up.

Anna Pykett: You probably won't be surprised to hear that this is all being driven by climate change, exacerbated by the burning of fossil fuels. Scientists are warning that 2024 could be even worse with these factors coupled with the naturally occurring El Nino weather pattern fuelling global temperatures in the first month of this year. Despite the depressing headlines, there are threads of optimism. Celeste Saulo is the Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization.

Celeste Saulo: I am now sounding the red alert about the state of the climate. There is, however, a glimmer of hope. Renewable energy generation is surging. In 2023, clean energy capacity additions increased by almost 50% over 2022. Weather and climate services will be vital to power the transition to solar, wind and hydropower.

Anna Pykett: Today, experts, politicians and economists are meeting in Canberra for a climate integrity summit organised by think tank the Australia Institute. One of the speakers is Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics and a member of the UN High Level Expert Group on the Net Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities. He said the WMO report shows the pace of climate change is picking up.

Bill Hare: The scale of the changes we've seen in the last year are extremely unusual. And I think it's one of the clearest warnings we've got now that the system is beginning to respond much more quickly than we would like and that the time is now well over to delay on emission reduction action.

Anna Pykett: He says the aim of today's event is to reinforce the need to reduce emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.

Bill Hare: One of the key obstacles emerging on that pathway is problems with what is called climate integrity. That is countries, corporates professing to take action when they're not really.

Anna Pykett: Another of the key speakers today will be His Excellency Mr. Anote Tong, the former president of Kiribati. He believes Australia can do more.

Anote Tong: They have done things but still not enough. The commitment to cut emissions to zero by 2050 is very welcome. That's not the only problem. Australia is the third largest exporter of fossil fuel and that has to be cut down because they have the capacity to become the world leader in renewable energy. It's about making the commitment to make that transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

Anna Pykett: The federal government says renewable energy sources accounted for 9% of Australian energy consumption in 2021 to 2022, with renewable electricity generation more than doubling over the last decade.

Rachel Mealey: Anna Pykett reporting.