New analyzes by the agency showed that the pact to reduce the climate-damaging greenhouse gas methane and the new net zero targets – if they are met – would limit global heating to 1.8 degrees, said the head of the agency, Fatih Birol, on Thursday in Glasgow. “This is a big step forward, but much more is needed,” wrote Birol on Twitter.
The aim of the World Climate Conference in Glasgow is to keep the 1.5-degree target confirmed in the Paris Climate Agreement within the realm of what is possible. According to climate researchers, the less ambitious “well below two degrees” target is not enough to avert catastrophic damage. Before the COP, the United Nations had sounded the alarm: According to the previous plans of the states led the world to a global temperature of 2.7 degrees.