Cooperatives urged to invest in green economy to reduce C02 in atmosphere
Guterres said the world is facing an urgent mission and this makes it the most profound opportunity to harness climate intelligence and technological advances to build a more resilient future for all
KAMPALA, October 27, 2025 —The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called on cooperatives around the world to invest more resources into the green economy and strengthen the natural green ecosystem to keep the world a safer place for everyone.
Speaking as the World Meteorology Organisation celebrated the 75th anniversary, Guterres remarked that, “No country is safe from the devastating impacts of extreme weather,” adding that, “We need to utilise the strength of such influential movements like cooperatives, to recover our safety in the world, reduce the high carbon dioxide amounts for our long term survival and protect communities and save millions of lives each year.”
Guterres said the world is facing an urgent mission and this makes it the most profound opportunity to harness climate intelligence and technological advances to build a more resilient future for all.
“I would like to emphasise once again the imperative to scale up multi-hazard early warnings and impact-based forecasting; to empower National Meteorological and Hydrological Services; to expand observing networks and data exchange; and broaden the tent,” he said.
A number of the world’s big cooperatives have already diverted significant resources into green economy including promoting green economy systems, clean cooking among others as well as investing resources into forestry, distributing tree seedlings among others.
According to the report by the World Meteorological Organistion, the levels of Carbon dioxide [CO2] in the atmosphere soared by a record amount to new highs in 2024, committing the planet to more long-term temperature increase.
The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin said continued emissions of CO2 from human activities and an upsurge from wildfires were responsible, as well as reduced CO2 absorption by “sinks” such as land ecosystems and the ocean – in what threatens to be a vicious climate cycle.
Growth rates of CO2 have tripled since the 1960s, accelerating from an annual average increase of 0.8 ppm per year to 2.4 ppm per year during the last one decade 2011 to 2021.
Between 2023 to 2024, the global average concentration of CO2 surged by 3.5 ppm, the largest increase since modern measurements started in 1957.
“The heat trapped by CO2 and other greenhouse gases is turbo-charging our climate and leading to more extreme weather. Reducing emissions is therefore essential not just for our climate but also for our economic security and community well-being,” said WMO Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett.
The report indicates that concentrations of methane and nitrous oxide, the second and third most important long-lived greenhouse gases related to human activities, have also risen to record levels.
Meteorologists have attributed the record growth between 2023 and 2024 to wildfire emissions in the Western world, while increased deforestation in Africa has also had an immense contribution leading to reduced uptake of CO2 by land and the ocean in 2024, making the year the warmest in record with a strong El Nino, when Carbon dioxide levels running high due to reduced land carbon sinks with drier vegetation and deforestation more especially in the Southern Africa.
The reports warns that the current CO2 emissions to the atmosphere not only impact global climate, but will do so for hundreds of years because of its long lifetime in the atmosphere.
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