United Nations Environment Program: Global warming exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius is “inevitable”
Quick Look
- The United Nations Environment Program released the "2026 Emissions Gap Report" stating that due to the long-term lack of climate action, it is inevitable that the global average temperature will rise by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels.
- The report calls on countries to take immediate and drastic measures to reduce emissions in order to reduce warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The United Nations Environment Program regularly publishes emissions gap reports to assess the gap between global emissions reduction progress and climate goals.
China News Service, Beijing, October 21. Comprehensive news: The United Nations Environment Program released the "2026 Emissions Gap Report" on the 21st local time, saying that decades of insufficient climate action have caused the global average temperature to increase by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels.
CNN stated that although previous emissions gap reports had cast doubt on whether the 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature control target could be achieved, this year, the report pointed out for the first time that failure to achieve this temperature control target was "imminent and inevitable."
According to reports from CNN and the British "Guardian", Inger Anderson, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, said that the window period to achieve temperature control goals has ended, but a restart can be achieved by shortening the time for warming to exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold as much as possible.
The report describes a "'lowest possible' 1.5°C overshoot scenario" that would limit the peak warming to 1.7 to 1.8°C around mid-century and bring global warming back to 1.5°C or below by 2100.
To achieve this goal, global greenhouse gas emissions must fall by 18% from 2025 levels by 2030, by 45% by 2035, and by 69% by 2040, the report said.
Anderson said that now all countries must step up efforts to formulate and implement policies to promote rapid, substantial, and sustained emission reductions and put the world on the path to achieving more stable climate, economy, and society.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Countries need to formulate and implement more stringent emission reduction policies to cope with rising temperatures.
Very likely · Within months
Open Questions
- How will countries adjust specific emission reduction policies?
- How to ensure that the 18% emission reduction target in 2030 is achieved?
