LEADERS at the Cop26 summit have been told that the world will not accept anything but strong commitments towards ending climate chaos as UN experts revealed that the last seven years have been the hottest on record.

In its annual “state of the global climate” report, launched as the UN summit got under way in Glasgow yesterday, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said that 2021 is likely to have been the fifth to seventh hottest year on record, with sea levels and destructive weather extremes rising to new highs.

WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas said that extreme weather events are now the new normal, with mounting evidence that some bear the footprint of human-induced climate change.