The IPCC has made it clear that 50% emissions reductions must occur globally by 2030 to remain close to 1.5°C of warming; and prevent cascading and irreversible damage, on a planetary scale, from the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the cryosphere. As the above papers make clear, overshoot of the 1.5°C limit cannot be considered a viable or safe option, from either an economic or social standpoint. Much of the Earth’s polar and mountain regions – including glaciers, snowpack, permafrost, sea ice, polar oceans and ice sheets – directly react to peaks in temperature and carbon dioxide emissions; and can tip many of these systems into a state of decline, where a later return to lower temperatures and CO2 levels makes little difference: the damage is done, and cannot be reversed on any human timescale. This session features a deeper and more detailed analysis of the NDCs from a number of countries, both 50×30-consistent and those needing strengthened policies to reach the needed emissions reductions needed to keep the 1.5°C goal.
Main presenters include Joeri Rogelj, IPCC AR5 CLA, SR1.5 CLA, and AR6 LA, Director of Research at the Grantham Institute; and Ryan Wilson, Climate and Energy Policy Analyst at Climate Analytics.
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