The global struggle against climate change has reached a devastating moment. The United Nations warns that 2025 will rank as one of the hottest years ever recorded, threatening “irreversible damage”. This grim reality confirms that the Paris Agreement’s critical 1.5 degrees Celsius (1.5°C) warming limit is now virtually impossible to hold in the immediate future.
The stark assessment comes from a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report, released just before the pivotal COP30 UN climate summit in Brazil. The data confirms a frightening trajectory: 2023, 2024, and 2025 are on track to be the three hottest years in history. This year is likely the second or third warmest in 176 years of record-keeping. The WMO also notes that the past 11 years—from 2015 to 2025—will each rank as the 11 warmest on record.
1.5°C Target: A Temporary Overshoot Looms
WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo expressed deep disappointment that the world has failed to uphold its legally binding Paris obligations. “This unprecedented streak of high temperatures, combined with last year’s record increase in greenhouse gas levels, makes it clear that it will be virtually impossible to limit global warming to 1.5°C [2.7F] in the next few years without temporarily overshooting this target,” Saulo stated.
The report details the alarming temperature rise: the mean near-surface temperature during 2025’s first eight months stood at 1.42°C above the pre-industrial average. UN Chief Antonio Guterres branded the inability to control the temperature rise a “moral failure” during a leaders’ summit in Brazil. Guterres cautioned that “Each year above 1.5 degrees will hammer economies, deepen inequalities, and inflict irreversible damage.”
These grim figures are driven by new record highs in heat-trapping greenhouse gas concentrations. Emissions, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), increased by a further 2.3 percent last year, a rise primarily driven by India, followed by China, Russia, and Indonesia.
The Unjust Burden on Africa’s People
For African nations, who contribute less than 4 percent of global greenhouse gases, the climate crisis is not merely a future threat—it’s a daily, deadly reality. WMO data confirms Africa is warming faster than the global average. Adaptation costs for sub-Saharan Africa are surging, now estimated at over $70 billion (GHS 770 billion) annually by 2030, exceeding previous forecasts.
“When desertification encroaches and our villages become uninhabitable, we are forced to flee,” said Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama earlier this year. He underscored the fundamental injustice: the Global North emits 75 percent more greenhouse gases than the Global South, yet Africa lacks the resources to cope effectively with the more severe effects.
The rising heat exacerbates local crises. In northern Ghana, prolonged droughts and erratic rainfall are crippling agriculture. Charles Nyaaba, CEO of Akuafo Nketewa Company Limited, spoke for distressed farmers: “Last year, many farmers planted maize full of hope. Then came a two-to-three-month drought that dried everything. Later, heavy rains in August washed away what little survived. Our families face hunger, not just heat.”
A City Under Strain: Ghanaians on the Heatwave
In Ghana’s bustling cities, the relentless heat is deeply personal, shaping daily life, from work schedules to sleep patterns.
In Accra, Kwesi Sarpong, a thirty-five-year-old delivery rider, acknowledged the severity but maintained a weary resilience. “It is hot, always hot, and the traffic makes it worse. I sweat constantly, but I have a job to do. You cannot stop because the sun is shining; you simply drink more water and endure.”
Contrastingly, Esinam Baeta, a 60-year-old market woman selling vegetables, felt the heat in her bones. “The afternoon sun feels like punishment,” she confided. “The headaches come like clockwork—throbbing, blinding pain that only painkillers can touch. Sometimes, all I can do is close my eyes and rest, even as customers walk by.” For Ama, the heat is both an economic threat and a physical drain.
Health Experts Warn of Escalating Risks
The record temperatures pose a direct threat to public health. Experts warn that extreme heat leads to dehydration, heat exhaustion, and life-threatening heat stroke. For vulnerable groups—the elderly, children, pregnant women, and outdoor workers—the risk is dramatically higher. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that heat stress can worsen existing conditions like cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and is even linked to complications like miscarriages in exposed populations.
Dr. Adelaide Nartey, a public health specialist in Accra, strongly advised simple, life-saving precautions. “The strategy is hydration, shade, and rest. Drink at least three litres of water daily, avoid strenuous activity during peak heat hours (midday to late afternoon), and wear light-coloured, loose-fitting cotton clothing. We must treat these heatwaves with the same seriousness as any other natural disaster.”
The Continent’s Voices of Resolve and Demand
Across the continent, frustration over international inaction is fueling a unified resolve. African leaders, scientists, and activists are transforming despair into actionable demands ahead of COP30.
This sentiment was powerfully articulated by Aisha Konaté, a women’s cooperative leader in Mali, whose community relies entirely on rainfall. “The sun has become our enemy. We used to rely on two harvests a year; now we are lucky to get one. We don’t need charity; we need climate justice that delivers reliable water and clean power.”
In East Africa, a call for proactive defense is gaining traction. Dr. Ken Mwathe, a Kenyan climate scientist, observed, “The science is clear: we must now prepare for a world 1.5°C hotter, even as we fight to pull it back down. African innovation in drought-resistant crops and early warning systems must be massively funded to protect lives.” These voices emphasize that Africa is not waiting for rescue; it is demanding the resources to finance its own survival.
The Adaptation Finance Gap: A Crisis of Commitment
The UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) 2025 Adaptation Gap Report reveals a crisis of commitment. International public adaptation finance flows to developing countries were only $26 billion (GHS 286 billion) in 2023, a figure that is now 12 to 14 times less than the estimated annual needs.
Madam Esi Forson, an Accra market queen, summarized the human cost: “It is heartbreaking to see the big polluters move so slowly while our people lose their homes and their harvest. We need climate finance for adaptation; we need safe houses and irrigation to survive, not just warnings of what’s coming.”
COP30: The Mandate for Implementation After the Global Stocktake
The WMO did acknowledge “significant advances” in multi-hazard early warning systems, essential tools for a continent facing increasing extremes. Yet, 40 percent of the world’s countries still lack these systems, jeopardizing millions of lives.
African negotiators heading to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), which will hold its official negotiating sessions from November 10–21, 2025, in Belém, Brazil, are determined to use the findings of the first Global Stocktake (GST) to demand implementation.
The GST, completed at COP28, confirmed the world is drastically off-track, and COP30 is mandated to translate those findings into stronger national commitments. They are demanding that climate finance “scale and shift” towards non-debt instruments to close the continent’s crippling estimated $2.5 trillion (GHS 27.5 trillion) climate finance shortfall by 2030. The African Development Bank (AfDB) is leading the charge for a new, ambitious, and accessible global finance goal.
Mohamed Adow, Director of Power Shift Africa, captured the continent’s defiant resolve. “The world no longer needs more promises, but proof that climate multilateralism can still deliver. Africa is not a problem to be solved; Africa is the solution to be supported.” The failure to meet the 1.5°C goal is a stark test of global morality; whether the world chooses solidarity or further suffering will be decided in the urgent negotiations ahead.
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Source: myjoyonline.com
