MONTREAL — Today, Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the European Union’s Earth Observation Programme released new data showing that for the first time global warming has exceeded a global average of 1.5°C above the pre-industrial baseline across an entire year, from February 2023 to January 2024. In reaction to this data, Salomé Sané, Greenpeace Canada Climate campaigner, said:
“The announcement of a year-long period in which the average global temperature very likely exceeded 1.5°C above the pre-industrial global average in 2023-2024 is a frightening reminder that government action to bring down emissions to zero is more urgent than ever. Every fraction of a degree of warming spells more extreme weather and more sea level rise impacting millions of people and other living creatures.
It’s fundamentally unjust that Shell, Imperial and other fossil fuel giants are announcing mind-boggling profits, at the same time as Chile is burning, countries from Spain and Morocco to Ethiopia are facing killer droughts, Australia faces a severe heat wave, and DR Congo faces its worst floods in decades – not to mention last year’s fires and floods in Canada. 2023 was a year of record temperatures and wildfires, yet fossil fuel companies are raking in profits by making the planet increasingly hotter.
As a major historical polluter, Canada has a responsibility to rapidly transition away from fossil fuels. The fossil fuel giants will not reform themselves: the Canadian government must reign in that industry which is responsible for 75% of emissions globally by enacting and implementing strong climate action policies. Ending all subsidies to the fossil fuel industry and putting them first in line to pick up the tab from the $3.1 billion in damages caused by extreme weather in Canada last year are essential to stopping the pace of the climate crisis.”
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
Philippa Duchastel de Montrouge, Communications Officer, Greenpeace Canada
[email protected]; +1 514 929-8227
