Scientists say it is still possible for world to meet 1.5C climate goal

SCIENTISTS HAVE claimed that it is still physically possible to meet ambitious climate goals agreed by world leaders to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C.

The Paris Agreement, the world’s first comprehensive climate deal which was struck in 2015, included commitments to keep temperature rises to “well below” 2C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5C.

The most vulnerable countries said the more ambitious target was needed to ensure their survival, but experts warned it was not achievable. Now new research in the journal

has concluded that pursuing the 1.5C goal is “not chasing a geophysical impossibility”, although it will require stronger action than countries have committed to under the Paris deal.

The analysis suggests that from today, the world can emit about 240bn tonnes of carbon dioxide, around 20 years of current emissions, and still be likely to meet the 1.5C target. The scientists said they had produced a more accurate estimate of warming than previous projections which said the world could only put out three to five more years of carbon before hitting the 1.5C limit.

Myles Allen, a professor of geosystem science at the University of Oxford, said if the world followed “ambitious” reductions of emissions from where things stand today, there would be even odds of meeting the 1.5C goal.

Michael Grubb, professor of international energy and climate change at University College London, had labelled the 1.5C target “incompatible with democracy” as it required such radical action, but said there were reasons to revise that now.