The year 2019 was the second warmest year on record after 2016, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s consolidated analysis of leading international datasets.

Average temperatures for the five-year (2015-2019) and ten-year (2010-2019) periods were the highest on record. Since the 1980s each decade has been warmer than the previous one. This trend is expected to continue because of record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The European Union is committed to becoming the first climate-neutral bloc in the world by 2050. This requires significant investment from both the EU and the national public sector, as well as the private sector. The European Green Deal’s Investment Plan – the Sustainable Europe Investment Plan – presented today will mobilise public investment and help to unlock private funds through EU financial instruments, notably InvestEU, which would lead to at least €1 trillion of investments.

The share of renewables in global power should more than double by 2030 to advance the global energy transformation, achieve sustainable development goals and a pathway to climate safety, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Renewable electricity should supply 57 per cent of global power by the end of the decade, up from 26 per cent today.

The climate crisis is posing a serious and growing threat to short- and long-term economic prospects, and investors and financial markets are underestimating the risks of climate change.

This is one key conclusion of the report “World Economic Situation and Prospects 2020,” published by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

The Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), have published a report titled, ‘Climate Change Strategies 2020,’ which features diverse case studies and knowledge-sharing initiatives that illustrate the role of technology transfer in climate change mitigation and adaptation.