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An actionable climate target

Nature Geoscience volume 9, pages 340–342 (2016)Cite this article

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The Paris Agreement introduced three mitigation targets. In the future, the main focus should not be on temperature targets such as 2 or 1.5 °C, but on the target with the greatest potential to effectively guide policy: net zero emissions.

Prior to the Paris climate summit, the United Nations had one single target for mitigating climate change, based on a decision adopted at the 2010 UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun: to limit the global temperature increase to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. The day after the Paris conference, we woke up in a new world with three mitigation goals: a temperature limit of well below 2 °C, a rather aspirational 1.5 °C limit and — hidden behind a vaguely defined formula —net zero emissions1. When the Paris Agreement enters into force, these targets will become legally binding under international law and are therefore likely to be in effect for decades.

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  1. Oliver Geden is at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Ludwigkirchplatz 3-4, 10719 Berlin, Germany

    Oliver Geden

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  1. Oliver Geden
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Correspondence to Oliver Geden.

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Geden, O. An actionable climate target. Nature Geosci 9, 340–342 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2699

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