2024, the hottest year on record
2024 was the hottest year on record for the Earth since 1850, with the global surface temperature +1.6°C higher. This is the first time since the beginning of the industrial era that the symbolic threshold of 1.5°C of global warming has been exceeded. This threshold has been defined by scientists as the limit that must not be crossed to avoid a climate catastrophe, and to which the States committed themselves in 2015 as part of the Paris Agreement.
And while we may not feel the effects of such an increase directly, they do have a considerable impact on the environment and biodiversity : acidification and rising sea levels, accelerated melting of ice, heat waves, etc.
In 2024, more than ever, natural disasters affected every continent : floods in Valencia and China, fires in Canada, polar storms in the United States...
Devastating droughts hit Ecuador, Brazil, Morocco, Namibia and Malawi, causing fires and water and food shortages.
These climatic disasters have many consequences: loss of human life, destroyed homes and infrastructure, destruction of crops, etc.
The end of the year was marked by cyclone Chido, which devastated the islands of Mayotte and Mozambique and destroyed entire towns. Natural disasters have never been so numerous on the African continent, which is paying a high price for climate change, even though it accounts for only 4% of greenhouse gas emissions (1).
That's the injustice of climate change. And the start of 2025 is no exception, with devastating fires in Los Angeles and storms in Europe continuing to disrupt millions of lives.
The richest 1% emit as much greenhouse gas as the poorest 66% (2). Yet it is these people who are already suffering the impacts of climate change.
In regions already affected by poverty, where many families make their living from agriculture, the situation is serious. The adverse effects of climate change are threatening their yields, and consequently exacerbating food insecurity and malnutrition.
In southern Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi have declared a state of disaster following droughts that have led to fears of famine.
The most violent natural disasters and food crises create sometimes massive population displacements and increase gender inequalities : when there is a shortage of food, for example, women are the first to go without.
Faced with these glaring inequalities, we must take action!
What can governments do?
In 2025, it's time for action, not just negotiations! The most polluting countries must shoulder their responsibilities and commit to restoring justice and limiting climate damage.
If they don't know how, we have a few ideas: respect the commitments of the most polluting States to reduce CO2 emissions, impose a tax on the super-polluting oil, gas and coal industries, rapidly phase out all fossil fuels, increase adaptation aid for the populations most affected (Loss and Damage Fund).
To force governments to listen to our demands, we need your votes! Join our committed community and keep up to date with the latest news on the fight against climate change.
CARE's action against climate change
Because it is urgent to act, CARE's teams are mobilising in more than 100 countries against climate change and its consequences. Thanks to your invaluable support and over 75 years of humanitarian expertise :
CARE supports projects to reduce the risk of natural and climatic disasters (strengthening buildings, evacuation plans, food storage, etc.) and provides emergency humanitarian aid to populations when a disaster strikes.
We help the most severely affected populations, and in particular farmers,to adapt to disruption through simple solutions such as agro-ecology.
We fight to preserve or restore the environment.
At international climate conferences, we support the voices of the populations most affected so that governments take ambitious measures against climate change.
Sources:
(1) United Nations, September 2023.
(2) Oxfam, November 2023.