A few degrees of warming is incredibly significant.
The IPCC’s Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, released in 2018, warned that allowing the planet to warm by more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels would have grave consequences.
The impacts that we are experiencing now at around a 1.2°C rise in average temperature are forerunners of rapidly escalating risks as global temperatures rise towards 2°C and beyond. Time is rapidly running out for humanity to avoid the extremely serious risks of a 2°C or warmer world.
Every fraction of a degree of avoided warming matters, and will be measured in lives, species and ecosystems lost or saved. We must do everything possible to deeply and rapidly cut our emissions, while also preparing for climate impacts that can no longer be avoided.
Australia has everything it needs to act swiftly and decisively to help avert climate catastrophe and prosper in a global clean economy.
Catastrophic outcomes for humanity cannot be ruled out if we fail to meet the climate challenge this decade.
For an explainer on the most recent IPCC Synthesis Report, see here.
Read more in our report, ‘Aim High, Go Fast: Why Emissions Need to Plummet This Decade’.
