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Human activities have fueled global warming, with the decade between 2011 and 2020 being the warmest on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization. And the WMO says 2020 is set to be one of the three hottest years ever.

"Our planet is broken," the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Wednesday, and urged people worldwide to stop a "suicidal" war on nature.

Scientists say climate warming has fueled more intense wildfires this year and strengthened hurricanes that hit land. Heatwaves have also brought devastation to marine animals and ecosystems.

Guterres is calling for every country, city, financial institution, and company to adopt plans to build a zero-carbon world by 2050. To meet this target, he said global emissions must be cut by 45% by 2030 compared with 2010 levels, and countries needs to reduce their fuel production by 6% every year between now and 2030.

New Zealand on Wednesday joined other 32 countries including Japan, Canada, France and the United Kingdom in declaring a "climate emergency," and pledged to make its public sector carbon neutral by 2025. New Zealand's initiative includes a phase-out of coal and a requirement for government agencies to use electric vehicles.

In September, China publicly committed to bring carbon emissions to a peak by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

From the U.S., John Kerry signaled Washington's seriousness about climate shortly after being tapped by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as U.S. envoy on climate, a new cabinet-level post. "America will soon have a government that treats the climate crisis as the urgent national security threat it is," Kerry tweeted.

The European Union, the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and more than 110 other countries have committed to become carbon neutral by the middle of this century.

The 2020 Production Gap report shows that COVID-19 lockdown measures have led to a temporary decrease in emissions, but many countries are investing in the fossil fuel industry, rather than clean energy, to drive pandemic recovery. The UN is urging countries around the world to take more aggressive actions to match their commitments. Environmental activists agree.

"Although the pandemic will have been the biggest concern to many people in the developed world in 2020, for millions in climate vulnerable places the climate emergency remains the biggest threat and sadly there is no simple vaccine to fix the climate. But keeping fossil fuels in the ground would be a good start," said Dr. Kat Kramer, from Christian Aid.

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