Humanity is "going in the wrong direction" on climate change because of its addiction to fossil fuels, the UN has said.

The World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Program have warned that if the global economy fails to decarbonise, catastrophes will become commonplace.

As examples of what to expect, they pointed to massive floods in Pakistan and a devastating heat wave in China this year.

"Floods, droughts, heat waves, extreme storms and forest fires are getting worse, breaking records with alarming frequency," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Last month, the UN warned that the drought that has gripped the Horn of Africa and is threatening millions of people with acute food shortages is likely to last a fifth year.

Spain's water reserves have declined dramatically

"There is nothing natural about the new scale of these disasters. They are the price of humanity's addiction to fossil fuels," Guterres said.

The UN's Science United report highlights how, almost three years after Covid-19 gave governments a unique opportunity to reassess how to power their economies, countries continue to pollute as usual.

UN

climate