PARIS: Corporations and consumers are the main obstacles to keeping global warming to the 1.5 degree Celsius limit, researchers said on Wednesday. They said positive signs in other areas are not yet enough to meet climate goals.
The report of a team of researchers warned that staying within the 1.5 degree Celsius goal was not plausible, but that this could change if societies stepped up their efforts to reduce emissions.
The political protests, divestments, climate litigation cases, transnational initiatives, this is all on the rise, according to one of the study authors, Anita Engels. You can think that we are on a good track. She said that we need to do more. The report, the Hamburg Climate Futures Outlook, assessed the plausibility of achieving the emissions reductions necessary to limit temperatures in line with the Paris Agreement.
Since pre-industrial times, the deal in 2015 saw nations agree to limit global warming to a minimum of 2 degrees Celsius, preferably 1.5 degree Celsius.
Researchers looked at 10 social factors that they considered to be the most important drivers of decarbonisation and found that none of them are yet at a level that would lead to the dramatic emissions reductions needed by 2050.