A United Nations report released Wednesday warned that global greenhouse gas emissions remained at record levels in 2025, indicating that the Earth could experience 2.6°C warming this century even if governments fulfill their recent climate pledges.
"Emissions remain at record levels," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the launch of the Emissions Gap Report. "National climate plans and current policies are dangerously inadequate and point to warming of between 2.6 and 2.8°C."
The report stated that while governments pledged to keep warming well below 2 degrees Celsius and aim for the 1.5-degree target in the Paris Agreement, any chance of staying at 1.5 degrees has been "lost" due to decades of inaction on climate-related issues.
Guterres said, "The world can no longer avoid exceeding the 1.5-degree threshold, and the consequences are already devastating: deadly floods, extreme heat waves, and raging wildfires. Lives are being lost, economies are being crippled, and inequality is deepening. Those who bear the least responsibility for warming are the ones who are most affected and suffer the most."
The report indicated that total global greenhouse gas emissions in 2025 were generally close to the record levels recorded in 2024, with a very small difference between the two years that was difficult to quantify.
Carbon emissions from burning coal, oil, and gas—the primary driver of climate change—recorded a slight increase in 2025 compared to the previous year.
The report warned that maintaining current policies would lead to a 2.8-degree Celsius rise in global temperatures.
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