The hottest year on record, 2023, “is just a glimpse of the catastrophic future that awaits us if we don’t act now,” a spokesman for the UN secretary-general said on Tuesday, as quoted by AFP.

“The Secretary-General (Antonio Guterres) believes that humanity is burning the Earth. 2023 is just a glimpse of the catastrophic future that awaits us if we don’t act now,” Stéphane Dujarric told the press, assuring that Antonio Guterres still believes the worst can be avoided.

“We must respond to record temperatures with revolutionary actions. Mr. Guterres believes leaders must commit to serious new climate action plans, end the fossil fuel era quickly and fairly, and invest to help the most vulnerable countries fight climate chaos,” he added.

“We can still avoid much of the catastrophe,” he believes, “but only if we act now with the necessary ambition to limit warming to 1.5°C and ensure climate justice,” he added.

2023 was the warmest year in the world and the second warmest in Europe after 2020, according to Copernicus data.

Globally, 2023 was the first year in which the global average daily temperature was more than one degree Celsius higher than in the latter part of the 19th century. In addition, there were two days in November with averages above 2 degrees.

The average global temperature in 2023 was likely to be the highest in the last 100,000 years.

The global average temperature was 1.48 C higher than in the second half of the 19th century. It was higher than 1.5°C for more than half of the days.