Global Perspectives
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The global transition to renewable energy will require greater investment in integrated weather and climate services, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has said. This investment is critical, including to ensure that energy infrastructure is resilient to climate-related shocks, and to harness the power of energy generated from sources such as the sun and wind, the WMO agency said.
In her opening remarks, WMO Deputy Secretary-General Elena Manaenkova stressed how the agency has placed great importance on building effective services to key socio-economic sectors, especially energy.
“In order to limit temperature increase to 1.5° Celsius, energy generation must radically shift from burning fossil fuels to harness renewable sources like wind, solar and hydropower. Such renewable sources are modulated by weather and climate patterns, thus indicating that the role of weather water and climate services is compelling for the energy transition."
--Elena Manaenkova, Deputy Secretary-General, WMO
WMO noted that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently reported that the past decade was warmer than any period since 125,000 years ago, and that global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to increase in the last century due to unsustainable use of resources.
Some 73 per cent of emissions are from the energy sector, the agency said, underlining the need for “a deep and rapid energy transformation” to both reduce emissions and meet growing energy demands.