This year is set be the hottest since global records began in 1850, the European Union's climate observation body said on Monday, after temperature data from the first eleven months showed 2024 is set to eclipse last year to become the warmest on record.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a briefing that global temperatures from January to November were some 0.14 degrees Celsius warmer than the same period last year, and represented a startling 0.72 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average, with the findings likely to cause more concern over the impact of climate change.
In addition, C3S forecast that the average temperature of 2024 may exceed pre-industrial levels by 1.5 degrees Celsius for the first time.
This puts more pressure on meeting one of the core goals of the landmark Paris Agreement, which aims to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
However, the latest data does not mean the Paris Agreement's temperature targets have been breached, but underscores the urgent need for greater climate action, said Samantha Burgess, C3S's deputy director.
The agency's data also showed that last month was the second-warmest November on record globally, behind 2023, with an average global temperature of 14.1 degrees Celsius across the month, which is 0.73 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average.
Additionally, Antarctic sea ice extent in November reached its lowest monthly value on record, and was recorded at 10 percent below the average.
2024 set to be hottest year on record: EU climate agency
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Bui Thanh Son in Beijing on Tuesday, with both sides pledging to promote the China-Vietnam community with a shared future.
Noting that China and Vietnam are comrades in the socialist cause and good partners on the path of reform, Han said General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam have made strategic plans for advancing the China-Vietnam community with a shared future, providing clear direction for the development of bilateral relations.
Noting that next year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the China-Vietnam Year of People-to-People Exchanges, Han said the two sides should follow the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and two countries, maintain strategic communication, expand practical cooperation, consolidate the foundation of public opinion, strengthen multilateral coordination and promote the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future, bringing more benefits to the two peoples.
Bui Thanh Son said that developing long-term friendly relations with China is the consistent proposition, objective requirement, strategic choice and top priority of Vietnam's diplomacy.
Vietnam firmly adheres to the one-China policy and is willing to strengthen high-level exchanges, consolidate political mutual trust, deepen pragmatic cooperation with China, and jointly promote the building of a Vietnam-China community with a shared future with strategic significance, he added.
Chinese, Vietnamese officials pledge to promote China-Vietnam community with shared future
