May 2022

Understanding the Paris Agreement’s Long Term Temperature Goal

Dr Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, Uta Klönne, Bill Hare

The 1.5°C limit in the Paris Agreement is now widely accepted as the goal towards which climate policy is working. The science behind the goal is extensive and the Agreement’s language is precise. We explain how it should be interpreted.

The 1.5℃ limit

May 2022

Scorched dystopia or liveable planet? Here’s where the climate policies of our political hopefuls will take us

Bill Hare

In this blog post, first published in The Conversation, our CEO, Bill Hare, analyses Australia’s federal election campaign and the global warming implications of the policies of the Coalition, Labor, the Greens and the “teal” independents.

2021 COP26. Attribution: President.am, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED)

November 2021

The strongest reason to keep 1.5°C within reach? The climate crisis that is already upon us

Bill Hare, Dr Carl-Friedrich Schleussner

Just like most past climate conferences, COP26 delivered a mixed outcome, and people are entitled to feel angry, scared and frustrated at the glacial progress made. Glasgow was the first big test of Paris Agreement’s implementation and in particular its ambition ratchet-up mechanism – and it failed the test. Unpacking what happened at COP26, however, shows that there are grounds for hope.

November 2021

Are you kidding, India? Your last-minute Glasgow intervention won’t relieve pressure to ditch coal

Bill Hare

Even though India managed to weaken the language on coal phase-out in the Glasgow Climate Pact, the pressure to ditch the fossil fuel is not going away.

May 2021

The 1.5℃ global warming limit is not impossible – but without political action it soon will be

Bill Hare, Dr Carl-Friedrich Schleussner

Whether Earth can stay within 1.5℃ warming involves two distinct questions. First, is it physically, technically and economically feasible, considering the physics of the Earth system and possible rates of societal change? Science indicates the answer is “yes” – although it will be very difficult and the best opportunities for success lie in the past.

Solar panels, Fiji — Michael Coghlan, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED

October 2020

In it for the long haul: Lessons in developing mid-century decarbonisation strategies

Raghuveer Vyas

The COVID-19 stimulus and recovery plans that governments put forward at this critical juncture present a unique opportunity to embed ambitious climate action into national sustainable development visions.

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Decarbonisation targets and 1.5℃ pathways

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