Earth's energy imbalance is the highest since monitoring began, the WMO tells the Leaders' Summit at Antalya

11 November 2026

The Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, Celeste Saulo, presented the State of the Climate Update to the Leaders' Summit of the climate conference at Antalya. She said Earth's energy imbalance is at its highest since monitoring of it began in 1960, that ocean heat and sea level are at record highs, that ice is retreating and that freshwater reserves are shrinking. Carbon dioxide is more than 50 per cent above pre-industrial levels, methane has nearly tripled and nitrous oxide is up by more than a quarter, with all three still rising. For the first nine months of this year the global average temperature was about 1.47 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. She also said the number of countries with early warning systems has more than doubled in ten years, and that disaster deaths are six times lower where those systems are strong. The summit was convened by the President of Türkiye on the theme Towards a Sustainable, Resilient and Equitable Future, with Australia sharing the conference presidency.