Climate Action

The chart that shows how hard it will be to make climate deal stick

Joe Myers
Writer, Forum Agenda

Saturday 12 December 2015 saw the world reach a historic agreement in Paris, with nearly 200 countries uniting to tackle climate change.

World leaders signed an agreement at the culmination of the Paris climate talks that commits nations to taking action on climate change. The deal, signed by 196 parties, agrees to keep average global temperatures “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels”. The agreement also outlines a goal to limit this rise to 1.5°C.

The question remains, however, whether this is achievable. The following chart from Reuters suggests that without significant change, it is a long way off.

1512B25-global emissions gap

As the chart highlights, current pledges are not enough to reduce emissions to levels they need to be at to limit temperature rises to 2°C above pre-industrial levels. If we are to meet the Paris agreement’s more ambitious objective – to limit the rise to 1.5°C – the gap becomes even bigger.

In order to prevent significant global temperature increases, emissions would need to return to around 1990 levels. As the difference between current policy and pledges shows, this target is some way off.

However, with renewed pledges and commitment as a result of the Paris climate talks, hope is far from lost. Data published in the journal Nature, has even suggested that CO2 emissions could decline slightly this year.

To keep up with the Agenda subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Author: Joe Myers is a Digital Content Producer at Formative Content. 

Image: A chimney in an industrial area of Sydney. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne 

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Future of the Environment

Related topics:
Climate ActionNature and Biodiversity
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Climate Crisis is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

How digital twins are transforming the world of water management

Anja Eimer

November 1, 2024

1:36

CEO Climate Alliance Letter | Gim Huay Neo

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum