Review 2024: A year of climate records
A boom in the expansion of renewable energies, the hottest year since records began, global CO2 emissions at their highest level, difficult negotiations at the World Climate Summit and the World Conference on Nature, crisis in the mobility transition in Europe. 2024 was a year of negative records, difficult negotiations on the road to net zero, but also of successes in the expansion of renewable energies.
The year was hotter than ever before
The year 2024 saw one temperature record after another. For example, the first summer day with temperatures of over 30 degrees was recorded on April 6. That had never happened before. According to the EU climate change service Copernicus, this year will be the world's warmest year on record. 2024 will also break the sad record for the average temperature rise. It will be the first year in which it is on average more than 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than the pre-industrial average. This means that we will have already exceeded the 1.5 degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement by 2024.
Greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise
The main reason for the record temperatures is the greenhouse gases we are emitting into the atmosphere. Emissions continued to rise last year, despite better knowledge of the fatal consequences.
The international research team of the Global Carbon Project has calculated that fossil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will amount to 41.6 billion tons in 2024, an increase of 2 % compared to 2023.
Despite the urgent need to reduce emissions to slow climate change, the researchers say there are "no signs yet" that the world has reached peak fossil CO2 emissions.
Natural CO2 storage capacities are decreasing
Deforestation and forest damage are among the main causes of the two major crises of our time, namely global warming and species extinction. They are the main drivers of CO2 emissions.
Due to storms, drought and beetle infestation, the forest loses more mass than it regrows. As a result, the forest in Germany has lost its ability to store carbon and instead releases CO2 into the atmosphere. Within ten years, a sink has become a source of carbon. Another negative record for the year 2024.
"German forests are no longer helping us to achieve our climate targets to the extent we were used to," explained Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir in October.
"The fact that the conversion of coniferous monocultures into climate-stable deciduous forests was not tackled early and consistently is now taking its toll," said WWF forest expert Susanne Winter.
Meanwhile, the deforestation rate in Brazil fell in 2024 under President Lula da Silva.
EU deforestation regulation postponed
The EU Deforestation Regulation (also known as the EUDR) was intended to significantly reduce the European contribution to global deforestation. By December 30, 2024, national legislatures should have transposed this regulation into national law. In recent months, the planned EUDR has led to heated discussions. However, the EU Commission has announced that it intends to postpone the start of implementation by one to one and a half years.
EU renaturation law adopted
The Nature Restoration Law is the central building block for the implementation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the centerpiece of the EU Green Deal. According to a European Council declaration, nature restoration measures are to be implemented on at least 30 percent of the EU's land and sea areas by 2030. The target is 60 percent by 2040 and as much as 90 percent by 2050.
Weather extremes on the rise worldwide
This year, there have been many heavy rainfall events followed by flooding, such as in Afghanistan and Pakistan in spring, but Brazil also experienced massive flooding last year. Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland were affected in the fall. Germany was confronted with flooding several times in 2024 and the Spanish region of Valencia was also hit by heavy rainfall, which brought more water in a few hours than normally rains down in a month, and significant rapid flooding, which claimed 200 lives. A few weeks later, the region around Malaga was affected.
There were also many devastating hurricanes around the world last year, which stored a lot of energy in the oceans, fueled by record-high water temperatures. The USA alone was hit by eleven hurricanes in 2024, five of which were severe and caused devastating damage. At the end of June, Hurricane Berryl devastated parts of the Caribbean, Mexico and the USA. In September, a typhoon of the highest (5th) level raged across the Philippines, southern China, Vietnam and Cambodia, claiming at least 500 lives and causing billions in damage. In the fall, Hurricane Helene claimed the most lives in the USA since Katrina and Tropical Storm Trami in the Philippines also caused severe destruction and fatalities.
Heat and the associated drought hit India and Romania, among others, hard this year. Brazil also experienced an extreme drought in 2024, which affected 60 percent of the entire country and caused around 20,000 forest fires in the Amazon and Pantanal.
Boom in renewable energy sources
One of the good pieces of climate news last year was the advance of renewable energy sources, according to the International Energy Agency. Photovoltaics in particular are experiencing a boom. The IEA forecasts, that the upturn will accelerate and that the share of renewables in electricity generation can increase from 30 percent today to 46 percent in 2030.
While there was a boom mood in this area, other areas of decarbonization across Europe were in a rather sluggish mood. These include electromobility, heat pumps, green hydrogen and synthetic fuels for aircraft.
Record worldwide sales of e-cars
Globally, 2024 was a record year in terms of e-car sales. While sales figures for electric cars are declining in Germany due to the ban on subsidies, the global market for battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids continues to grow strongly. China dominates the global market with a 60% share of sales and production. In 2023, 14.8 million e-cars were sold, which corresponds to market growth of around 35%. The International Energy Agency (IEA) is forecasting global growth of 20% for 2024.
All in all, a very mixed year. If you consider the lack of success at international level at the World Climate Conference and the World Conference on Nature as well as the global plastics agreement, you unfortunately have to conclude that the urgency still lags behind the interests of some. This in turn will have a particularly massive impact on the poorest and weakest people on the planet.
