According to the United Nations, the commitments made by individual countries to combat climate change are far from sufficient to achieve the 1.5 degree target.
Rather, international commitments currently amount to global warming of 2.5 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era, according to a report by the UN climate secretariat published on Wednesday.
“We are not even close to the required speed and scope of emission reductions to achieve the 1.5 degree target,” said UN climate chief Simon Stiell. “To keep this goal alive, national governments need to improve their climate action plans now.”
In the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015, the international community committed to limiting global warming to well below two degrees, but if possible to 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial age.
How this goal can still be achieved will be discussed at the World Climate Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, starting November 6th.
