So-called green hydrogen, created by splitting water into its two components using electricity from renewable energy sources, is increasingly viewed as a fuel of the future to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels.

The move follows similar pledges from France’s AXA SA and Swiss Re AG and comes as indigenous tribes that live in Alaska and Canada push investors, oil companies and insurers to end their support for Arctic oil drilling.

The WMO pointed to sustained heat and wildfires in Siberia, diminishing Arctic sea ice and record-breaking hurricanes in the Atlantic as being among the climate events that most stood out in 2020.

The UN weather agency said that temperature is just one climate change indicator. Greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat content, global mean sea level, sea ice extent and extreme events are also factors.

Painting a picture of some 789 million people across the developing world without access to electricity – three-quarters of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa – the top UN official called it “both an injustice and an impediment to sustainable development”.

“The last decade was the warmest on record, and is yet another reminder of the urgency of ambitious emissions reductions to prevent adverse climate impacts in the future,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Chance Service.