The concentration of greenhouse gases responsible for climate change reached new records in 2022 and the trend will not change, the United Nations warned on Wednesday, calling for an urgent reduction in fossil fuel consumption, AFP reported.

In 2022, global average concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), the most important greenhouse gas, will exceed pre-industrial levels by 50% for the first time.

They have continued to rise this year, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, published two weeks before the most important COP meeting since the Paris Agreement, which will take place from November 30 to December 12 in Dubai.

Methane (CH4) concentrations also increased, and levels of nitrogen oxide (N2O), the third major greenhouse gas, saw the strongest annual increase between 2021 and 2022.

“Despite decades of warnings from the scientific community (…) we are still moving in the wrong direction,” WMO Secretary General Petteri Taalas commented in a statement.

G20 countries account for about 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, he told a news conference.

The 2015 Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times (1850-1900) and, if possible, to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

According to a previous UN report, the average global temperature in 2022 was 1.15°C higher than in pre-industrial times. And 2023 will almost certainly be the hottest year on record, Taalas told reporters.

“Current levels of greenhouse gas concentrations are pushing us towards temperatures well above the Paris Agreement targets between now and the end of the century,” Taalas warned.

The head of the WMO paints a gloomy picture of the future state of the planet:

“Weather conditions will become more extreme: intense heat and heavy precipitation, melting ice, rising sea levels, warming and acidifying oceans,” and we “will witness dramatic increases in socioeconomic and environmental costs.” (photo: Dreamstime)