Commentary on the climate crisis: 1.5 degrees? We can say goodbye to that

The study by authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change should come as no surprise: The CO₂ budget for the 1.5-degree target will likely be exhausted in just three years. Many experts had already written off the 1.5-degree target. Global warming is progressing too rapidly for the temperature limit to be met.

Last year, it was even exceeded for the first time. Since then, it's been clear: 1.5 degrees? We can say goodbye to that.

Reports like the one about the CO₂ budget now only cause weary head-shaking. We've apparently become accustomed to the fact that the Earth is far too warm, that extreme weather is increasing, that climate tipping points are being exceeded, that ecosystems are collapsing, and that human lives are at risk. How else can we explain the uncontrolled progress of climate change? Even the study authors write that the measured temperatures are "alarmingly ordinary." What could change if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise?

Once again, it becomes clear that climate policy and the pace of climate action cannot keep pace with the climate crisis. This makes it all the more important that the climate conference in Brazil in November is a success – even without the United States, which has withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement. More than 5,000 delegates from around the world are currently preparing for the conference in Bonn.

It will be particularly important for countries to present more ambitious national climate targets. Their current plans will no longer be sufficient given current climate change. The 1.5-degree window is rapidly closing – in fact, only a tiny gap remains. Now countries must prevent the same thing from happening with the 2- and 3-degree windows.