[Source: File]

The World Meteorology Organization is sounding alarm that the world is likely to temporarily breach the 1.5C target in at least one of the next five years.

Earlier this week, the WMO report revealed there is a 66% chance that the annual average near-surface global temperature will temporarily exceed the critical 1.5C.

As a result the scientists are warning of far-reaching repercussions for health, food security, water management, and the environment.

The Pacific Civil Society is urging world leaders to recognize the urgency of the situation and take immediate, concrete steps to combat climate change.

The Society is urging the leaders to redouble their commitments agreed to in the Paris Agreement to limit the long-term average of atmospheric temperatures to 1.5C.

Pacific Islands Climate Action Network Regional Coordinator, Lavetanalagi Seru, says the time for rhetoric and incremental measures has passed.

Seru stresses any further expansion of the fossil fuel infrastructure is a climate bomb that will cause widespread and more pronounced climate impacts for many Pacific frontline communities.

He adds the Pacific Civil Society is calling upon governments worldwide to recognize the imminent danger and prioritize the preservation of our shared future.

Seru adds the window for effective action is closing fast and the next five years are predicted to be the hottest on record.

He says this critical period will offer a glimpse of the severe consequences the SIDS will face if governments fail to act urgently and with ambition.

WMOs forecast, combined with the predicted development of an El Niño weather pattern in the coming months, paints a dire picture of “uncharted territory” for our planet’s climate.