Efforts to cap global temperature rises have largely failed and a breach of the Paris Agreement’s limit of 1.5℃ is now “inevitable,” the UN said.
Overall global warming is now likely to be between 2.6℃ and 2.8℃ by the end of the century, the UN Environment Programme predicted.
It warned that the best-case scenario — in which humanity overshoots its target but ultimately reverts to it — would require cuts to global emissions of about 45% by 2035; current national plans, even if fully implemented, would only lead to reductions of up to 15%.
Yet, UNEP argued, “countries can still limit peak warming, shorten the duration of overshoot, and keep the goals of the Paris Agreement within reach.”
