Global warming by Howard Duncanvia Flickr CC
Last year was yet another “warmest on record” according to a UVA Today article (my alma mater, but multiple sources reported this) —warmest year on record in 2024. The UVA article cited data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, Europe’s leading environmental monitoring program, and a handy site to follow..
Sadly, last year was the first to exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F) red line above the pre-industrial average set by the 2015 Paris Agreement, the treaty that aims to reduce deal with climate change.
“2023 was roughly 0.3 degrees Celsius (0.5 F) warmer than 2022,” said Kevin Grise, an associate professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia, “and 2024 continued that trend of being warmer than the previous year.”
Grise continued: “We’ve seen some unusual events that have huge impacts on ecosystems in the ocean and tropical systems. We saw the first ever Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic basin in June, and we saw (Hurricane) Milton hit Florida, which rapidly intensified within 24 hours – an almost 95 mph intensification.”
The United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in Baku, Azerbaijan in November, focused on climate finance, with developed nations pledging to pony up at least $300 billion per year by 2035, triple the previous goal of $100 billion.
“From a policy perspective, the choices now are to focus now on climate mitigation and working to stop the emissions that are causing climate change or developing ways to adapt to a warmer world,” Grise said. “Or a combination of the two.”
Big numbers but not enough.
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Also sadly, regarding climate finance, Wells Fargo recently withdrew from the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) without explanation. Kaleigh Harrison, writing in Environment+Energy Leader, said, “The decision was announced on a Friday afternoon, ahead of a holiday week, echoing a similar exit by Goldman Sachs just two weeks earlier. Despite initially joining the alliance in 2021 when it was politically advantageous, major U.S. banks have failed to align their fossil fuel financing with the goals of Net Zero emissions and a 1.5˚C climate pathway.”
She added: “Wells Fargo’s departure from the alliance highlights a broader trend of banks backtracking on voluntary climate commitments while continuing to finance fossil fuel expansion. Since the 2015 Paris Agreement, Wells Fargo has financed $296 billion in fossil fuel projects, including $99 billion for companies driving expansion in the sector. In 2023 alone, the bank funneled $11 billion into fossil fuel projects, according to data from Rainforest Action Network (RAN).”
Quite a start to 2025: it’s getting hotter, and the big bucks needed from organizations to combat climate change is drying up.
wrdforwrd 