The UN’s 1.5°C special climate report at a glance

Limiting global warming 1.5°C will be profoundly challenging given current policies. Chart data: Climate Action Tracker / Image: AAP

Emil Jeyaratnam, The Conversation, Madeleine De Gabriele, The Conversation, Michael Hopkin, The Conversation, Mark Howden, Australian National University, Rebecca Colvin, Australian National University

Authors

Emil Jeyaratnam
Data + Interactives Editor, The Conversation
Madeleine De Gabriele
Deputy Editor: Energy + Environment
Michael Hopkin
Deputy Chief of Staff, The Conversation

Reviewers

Mark Howden
Director, Climate Change Institute, Australian National University
Rebecca Colvin
Knowledge Exchange Specialist, Climate Change Institute, Australian National University

Disclosure statement

Professor Howden is Vice-Chair of IPCC Working Group II (Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability), and acted as a review editor of Chapter 4 of the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C.

Rebecca Colvin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a special report today on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

The report outlines the considerable challenges of meeting the Paris Agreement’s more ambitious goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C, the global effort needed to achieve the target, and the consequences of not.

The highlights of the report are presented below:

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that the Australian Labor Party had a goal of reaching 50% renewable energy by 2050. But the ALP hope to achieve the 50% target via an emissions intensity scheme by 2030.

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