From Asia to Europe and the Americas, people across continents are grappling with natural disasters. The recent catastrophic flash floods in Texas, the US, have become some of the most devastating in the country’s past century.
Experts point to climate change as the main culprit behind rising temperatures, which in turn are driving more frequent and intense rainstorms. Gregory Pierce, Co-Director of the Luskin Centre for Innovation at the University of California, Los Angeles, has even warned that flood-related deaths in the US will continue to rise in the coming years due to climate change and a lack of investment in disaster warning systems.
Meanwhile, millions across Europe, Asia, and Africa are enduring relentless scorching heat. This June witnessed the shattering of all previous records for high temperatures across the continents.
In the Republic of Korea, the number of people suffering from heat-related illnesses has surged by more than 83% compared to the same period in 2024, as the heatwave arrived earlier than usual.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has stated that the world must learn to live with prolonged heatwaves.
Numerous climate meetings have been held, and many pledges of joint action have been made. Public awareness of environmental protection has grown significantly in recent years. Yet in reality, the escalating ferocity of extreme weather events shows that the world still lacks strong and decisive action against climate change.
At these meetings, one of the thorniest and most contentious issues remains climate finance. The 30th Conference of the Parties to the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 30), scheduled to take place in Brazil this November, will be no exception.
At COP29, developed nations pledged to raise climate finance to 300 billion USD annually by 2035 — a figure widely regarded as far below actual needs.
Experts estimate that developing nations will require around 1.3 trillion USD annually by 2035 to achieve green transitions and cope with increasingly severe natural disasters.
Brazil, the host of COP30, has declared its determination to make this year’s summit a landmark in renewing global climate commitments. The Brazilian Government has stressed that the climate crisis has reached its peak, warning that if global warming remains unchecked, the Earth will face devastating transformations impacting all aspects of society, the economy, the environment, and individual households.
There is also growing focus on improving the speed and effectiveness of responses to natural disasters.
Jess Neumann, an expert at the University of Reading (the UK), remarked that the flash floods in Texas have raised pressing questions about the effectiveness of early warning systems and flood prevention planning. Community preparedness, risk awareness, evacuation skills, and other capabilities need to be strengthened. Healthcare systems also require significant reform.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), despite the increasing frequency of extreme heatwaves, only 21 out of 57 countries in Europe currently have national action plans for heatwave response. Many countries still lack community cooling systems or public awareness campaigns on the risks of heatstroke.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has emphasised that climate action is not optional but imperative, as time is rapidly running out. The frequency of occurrence of severe weather events in recent times has revealed a starkly sobering reality: climate change is unfolding at an alarming pace, and the world has no time left for further delay.
