Read what the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said during a press conference on 31 July 2026 HERE or below:

Even as we grapple with war and instability, another crisis is accelerating – one that respects no borders and is devastating lives and livelihoods across the globe.

Two months ago, I warned that El Niño was arriving on our doorstep.

Now it is inside the house – and turning up the heat.  

We have already endured a summer of extremes – record-shattering heat domes; apocalyptic wildfires raging in Spain, France and far beyond; thousands of lives lost in the scorching conditions.

And global sea-surface temperatures with records in June and July.

But according to the latest science, this is only a warm-up act.

New forecasts released today by the World Meteorological Organization provide a stark picture of the period from August through October.

El Niño is strengthening – adding fuel to a planet already on fire.

The Pacific waters driving it have never been this warm this early in an El Niño – and temperatures are still rising.

Today’s latest news indicates sea-surface temperatures in key monitoring regions to average nearly 3 degrees Celsius above normal.

At the same time, WMO’s outlook shows that through October, nearly every land area on Earth is expected to be hotter than normal.

Taken together, that risks shattering every seasonal record – and driving even more severe effects worldwide.

We are in uncharted territory.

And El Niño does not bring heat alone – it profoundly affects the world’s rainfall.

India’s monsoon is already running well below average.  

Forecasts point to worse ahead for a subcontinent where more than a billion people depend on the monsoon.

Hotter and drier conditions are forecast from Central America and the Caribbean to parts of South America, South Asia, the Southwest Pacific, Europe and Africa.

The verdict is clear: the climate crisis is in overdrive.

Extreme heat has long been called the silent killer.

Yet even that description may understate the crisis, because heat deaths are vastly undercounted around the world.  

Many fatalities linked to extreme heat are never recorded as such, even when heat plays a decisive role.  

What we do know is deeply alarming: heat is claiming lives on a growing scale, day after day, in every region of the world.  

It is also putting an enormous share of the global workforce at risk, exposing billions of people to dangers and often life-threatening conditions.

Behind all of the numbers are people.

Families trapped in unsafe homes.

Workers forced to choose between their health and their income.

Children unable to learn.

Hospitals and power grids under pressure.

Roads buckling. Railways failing.

Supply chains disrupted.

Food prices rising.

Entire cities struggling to function.

And while extreme heat is a global crisis, those who have done the least to fuel it are paying the highest price.

Children.

Older persons.

Persons with disabilities.

Outdoor workers.

People living in informal settlements.

And communities pushed to the margins.

Extreme heat is widening inequalities, deepening hunger, weakening economies, and pushing development further out of reach.

Two years ago this month, I launched a Call to Action on Extreme Heat.

Since then, we have helped more governments improve forecasts and early warnings.

More cities have adopted Heat Action Plans – and over 250 have joined the Beat the Heat initiative.

These measures are saving lives.

But the planet is heating faster than our response.

We need far more action on four fronts.

First, protecting people before heat becomes deadlier.

Every city and country should have heat-health action plans, early warning systems and public health measures that reach every community in time.

And access to sustainable cooling must expand – urgently and equitably.

Extreme heat is a society-wide threat – and demands a government-wide response.

Second, make work safer.

Take the garment industry: more than 90 million workers, most of them women.

In 17 of its 23 biggest production hubs, dangerously hot days have jumped by more than ten per cent in two decades.

Yet most global brands set no heat standard for the factories that supply them.

Governments and employers must set heat standards, adjust working hours, and protect incomes when work must stop.

No one should have to risk their life to earn a living.

Third, build and retrofit for the heat that is coming.

Protection from extreme heat must be designed into our cities, homes, schools and hospitals, and factored into every plan and public budget.

Fourth, and fundamentally, the world must stop fuelling the crisis.

We hear much about record heat, drought, and wildfires – but not enough about the real change that is driving these events – the accelerating climate crisis powered by fossil fuels.

It is time to stop treating each disaster as an isolated tragedy and recognize the systemic risk that is unfolding before our eyes.

And, make no mistake, the costs of fossil fuels are measured not only in climate disasters, but also in energy insecurity and geopolitical instability – as we see playing out today in the Middle East and beyond.

Every new fossil fuel project approved today makes tomorrow’s heatwaves more dangerous, and our world less secure.

Yet some governments still plan to produce more than twice as much fossil fuel in 2030 as the 1.5-degree limit allows.

And fossil fuels still enjoy trillions of dollars a year in subsidies and underpricing.

We are spending too much public money fuelling the crisis – and too little protecting the people from it.

More coal, oil and gas will lead to a more combustible future.

Today’s findings show that extreme heat is not a future threat.  

It is here.  

It is becoming more dangerous.  

And unless we act – to protect people and tackle the root cause of the crisis – it will become deadlier still.

The warm-up act is over.  

We cannot afford to wait for the main event.

August 2026