Planet Earth is being pushed beyond its limits. Every key climate indicator is flashing red.
That is the clear message of the latest report from the World Meteorological Organization. The report confirms that the Earth’s energy imbalance — the gap between heat absorbed and heat released — is the highest on record. In other words, our planet is trapping heat faster than it can shed it.
Greenhouse gas concentrations are higher than at any point in hundreds of thousands of years. Global temperatures continue to rise. Humanity has just endured the eleven hottest years on record. When history repeats itself eleven times, it is no longer a coincidence. It is a call to act.
Meanwhile, oceans are absorbing epic levels of heat, fueling ever stronger storms. Glaciers and sea ice are vanishing. And sea-levels are relentlessly rising.
These findings are not confined to charts and graphs. They are written into the daily lives of people. In families struggling as droughts and storms drive up food prices;
In workers pushed to the brink by extreme heat;
In farmers watching crops wither;
In communities and homes swept away by floods.
Those on the frontlines urgently need a surge in adaptation finance to face the here-and-now impacts of the climate crisis.
And in this age of war, climate stress is also exposing another truth: our addiction to fossil fuels is destabilizing both the climate and global security. Now more than ever, we must accelerate a just transition to renewable energy. Renewables deliver climate security, energy security and national security.
Today’s report should come with a warning label: climate chaos is accelerating and delay is deadly.
The way ahead must be grounded in science, common sense and the courage to act.
Today we recall the Sharpeville massacre of 1960, when police fired indiscriminately into a crowd peacefully protesting the evils of apartheid — killing 69 people.
We honor all those who have stood against racism and racial discrimination around the globe. And we renew our commitment to work for justice and equality.
Racial discrimination is a violation of human rights and human dignity. It is a learned behavior that is both pervasive and deeply destructive. It has claimed countless lives and caused monumental suffering throughout history.
It should have no place in our world, but it rears its head in schools, workplaces and countless everyday interactions.
Racism harms us all.
It persists in the damaging consequences of enslavement, colonialism and oppression. It feeds many of the problems we face today — including economic, social and political inequalities. Discriminatory policies and practices. And outright conflicts.
And many of the solutions to confront it are being weakened as some governments dismantle anti-racist policies and practices and leaders try to rewrite history.
At the same time, digital tools and technologies are inundating us with hate speech — perpetuating lies and harmful stereotypes that often spill over into real-world violence and abuse.
Racism powers the repugnant acts of white supremacists and other extremist groups. It sows distrust, divides communities, and dehumanizes people. It stigmatizes Africans and people of African descent — as well as Asians and people of Asian descent. And it fuels the oppression of a wide range of ethnic, religious, linguistic and national minorities, including Indigenous Peoples.
I am deeply troubled by how racism and xenophobia are being mainstreamed on digital platforms and in political discourse. What might begin with dog whistles — coded messages meant to embolden other bigots — can quickly turn into full-throated hate speech. We know where this road leads: to further injustice, violence and even worse.
The remedy is solidarity. Governments, institutions, businesses and communities must work together to safeguard the dignity, justice, equality and rights of every person. That means taking urgent and concrete steps to end racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance — including within the United Nations.
I am determined to tackle racism in every form — from harmful interpersonal interactions to deeply ingrained institutional and systemic biases. I am grateful to our Anti-Racism Office and my Special Adviser for Addressing Racism in the Workplace, Ms. Mojankunyane Gumbi, for spearheading this work at the Secretariat, and I thank the many teams and colleagues advancing these efforts throughout the UN system.
For the private sector, fighting racism and racial discrimination includes ensuring that their supply chains, workplaces, products and services respect the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
For Member States, it includes universal ratification and full implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
(United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message on the launch of the State of the Global Climate Report in Geneva, Switzerland, and remarks for the Commemorative Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in New York on 23 March 2026.)