UN warns of climate risks, says 1.5°C breach likely within years

A new United Nations report has warned that global temperatures are likely to surpass the critical 1.5-degree Celsius threshold within the coming years, leading to intensified extreme weather, loss of ecosystems, and heightened risks for small island developing states and coastal cities. The UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) report, titled "Limiting Overshoot," emphasizes the urgent need for significant and persistent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to curb the duration and severity of warming beyond this threshold.

While there is still a possibility to bring temperatures down and meet the goals set in the Paris Agreement, the report cautions that exceeding 1.5°C would exacerbate climate risks and impacts with every additional fraction of a degree and each passing year. Consequences include more intense extreme weather, loss of biodiversity, and the submergence of small island developing states and low-lying coastal cities.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an "overshoot of ambition," highlighting recent extreme weather events as a warning of what could be expected in the future. Guterres stated that the scorching heat, raging wildfires, and deadly floods witnessed this summer are a harbinger of what lies ahead, and emphasized the necessity to minimize the overshoot above 1.5 degrees through an increase in climate ambition.

The report calls for immediate and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, to minimize peak warming on the route to net-zero emissions. Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, urged governments to intensify climate action by cutting emissions, strengthening resilience and adaptation measures, and ensuring that any exceedance of the 1.5°C threshold is as small and short as possible. Andersen emphasized that now is the time to double down on climate action and get on the right path.