{"id":1766,"date":"2026-09-02T20:12:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T20:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766"},"modified":"2026-09-02T20:12:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T20:12:44","slug":"un-report-says-earth-will-overshoot-1-5c-warming-emission-cuts-can-limit-damage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766","title":{"rendered":"UN Report Says Earth Will Overshoot 1.5C Warming, Emission Cuts Can Limit Damage"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n

Support justice-driven, accurate and transparent news \u2014 make a <\/span><\/i>quick donation<\/span><\/i> to Truthout today!\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Nearly 9 in 10 Americans Say There\u2019s \u201cWidespread\u201d Corruption in US Government<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The world has officially moved past the point where preventing a temperature rise above 1.5\u00b0C will be possible, scientists said in a United Nations report released Wednesday, which made clear that communities can expect sea levels to continue rising, heatwaves to intensify, and hurricanes, wildfires, and flooding to become more frequent and dangerous \u2014 all climate impacts that experts have long warned about as policymakers have failed to rapidly draw down greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n

But the authors of the report, published by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and titled \u201cLimiting Overshoot,\u201d emphasized that the inevitable temperature rise must not be viewed as a point of no return, and that steps can and must be taken to ensure the overshoot of the 1.5\u00b0C goal is only temporary.<\/p>\n

The best-case scenario is now a peak global temperature of 1.8\u00b0C, said the report\u2019s dozens of authors, with an \u201covershoot, peak, and decline\u201d pathway still possible before the end of this century if policymakers ensure that planet-heating fossil fuel emissions are drastically reduced \u2014 starting immediately.<\/p>\n

The report is the first ever to establish the inevitability of overshooting the 1.5\u00b0C goal that countries were tasked with working toward when the Paris climate agreement was signed in 2015, and to chart a path toward ensuring the planet can ultimately make its way back down to 1.5\u00b0C \u2014 hopefully limiting the time above the threshold to a few decades.<\/p>\n

If the world remains above 1.5\u00b0C over preindustrial temperatures long-term, said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen, \u201cthere are no good outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, global temperatures were already about 1.3\u00b0C to 1.4\u00b0C above the preindustrial average, The Washington Post<\/em> reported, and the effects on the Earth have been made clear as wildfires have engulfed parts of Canada and South America; a glacial collapse led to flooding that killed more than 1,000 people in Nepal last week; and extreme heat killed more than 1,000 people across Europe this summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAcross the globe, extreme heatwaves are already proving that climate impacts will strike faster, hit harder, and last longer \u2014 costing more lives and causing deeper disruption,\u201d said Andersen. \u201cNow is the time we must double down on climate action. We can \u2014 and must \u2014 get on the right path. By cutting greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening resilience and adaptation, and ensuring exceedance of 1.5\u00b0C is as small and short as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scientists said planet-heating fossil fuel emissions must be slashed by 55 percent by 2035 and almost entirely eliminated by the middle of the century to limit the global temperature rise to 1.8\u00b0C above preindustrial levels.<\/p>\n

Climate scientist Joeri Rogeli of Imperial College London, a lead author of the report, told the Post that swift action is crucial, as \u201cfor every five years that humanity delays reducing emissions\u2026 the peak temperature the world will ultimately face rises by at least a 10th of a degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scientists emphasized that avoiding the 1.5\u00b0C limit would have been a less daunting goal than reversing the temperature rise. Policies that continue allowing oil, gas, and coal companies to extract fossil fuels will make both goals difficult to achieve.<\/p>\n

The report was released weeks after President Donald Trump terminated offshore wind energy projects in the US \u2014 the latest of several renewable energy projects he\u2019s killed \u2014 and moved to take ownership of Venezuelan oil fields. Recent global climate summits have been attended by an outsized number of corporate lobbyists for fossil fuel industries, weakening the climate commitments that have come out of the meetings.<\/p>\n

Fenton Lutunatabua of 350.org Pacific noted that the report was also released as Pacific countries meet at the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll eyes are on one of the world\u2019s largest fossil fuel exporters, Australia, and how they act on this urgent warning,\u201d said Lutunatabua. \u201cThe climate crisis is here and any delay in mitigation, in phasing out coal, oil, and gas, will only make our adaptation pressures harder and more expensive to bear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more People in Southern Iran Struggle to Repair After US Attacks on Infrastructure<\/a><\/p>\n

The report emphasizes that even if the world is able to reduce planetary heating once global temperatures shoot above 1.5\u00b0C, some impacts of continued fossil fuel extraction will be irreversible, including the melting of glaciers and the extinction of some species.<\/p>\n

But UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres was among those who said \u201can overshoot of ambition\u201d is now required to mitigate the damage as much as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis summer\u2019s scorching heat, raging wildfires, and deadly floods are a warning of what lies ahead. We must make the overshoot above 1.5 degrees as small and short as possible,\u201d said Guterres.<\/p>\n

Along with rapidly cutting emissions, the report calls \u201ccarefully governed carbon dioxide removal (CDR) \u2014 the process of removing carbon from the air and storing it through afforestation or other means \u2014 an essential part of the mix.\u201d<\/p>\n

CDR methods \u2014 from planting forests to act as carbon sinks to technological fixes \u2014 come with limitations and are potentially reversible. Forests that are planted could be destroyed by wildfires, while CDR technology is largely unproven and can be energy-intensive \u2014 negating many of the benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, even optimistic CDR scaling is unlikely to deliver a temperature reversal beyond a few tenths of a degree this century,\u201d reads the report. \u201cThis emphasizes the importance of focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard Betts, a climate scientist at the University of Exeter and another report author, told the Post that CDR cannot be relied upon as a \u201cget-out-of-jail-free card.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 350.org, head of campaigns and networks Savio Carvalho said that \u201cthere is no version of \u2018limiting overshoot\u2019 that doesn\u2019t start with ending new coal, oil, and gas expansion today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis report confirms what communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis have been telling us for years: that delay is not a neutral act, it is a decision,\u201d said Carvalho. \u201cWe\u2019ve just watched a glacier collapse bury Himalayan communities under mud and water, and we\u2019re watching Pacific nations lose land to the sea in real time. UNEP is right that overshoot doesn\u2019t have to mean surrender: The size and length of that overshoot is still being written by the decisions governments make this year, on fossil fuel phase-out, technology transfer, and on finance for the countries least responsible and most exposed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murat Kurum, T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s minister of environment, urbanization, and climate change and the president-designate of the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31), said the upcoming summit scheduled for November \u201cmust turn this urgency into concrete action.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery fraction of a degree matters, and every year spent in overshoot increases climate risks and the potential for irreversible losses,\u201d said Kurum. \u201cThe Overshoot Report makes clear that exceeding 1.5\u00b0C should not be seen as a new destination, but as a pathway we must urgently work to minimize and reverse. This requires rapid and sustained emissions reductions, alongside ambitious adaptation to protect people, communities, and ecosystems.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to accelerate global electrification, reduce methane emissions from waste, strengthen the climate resilience of cities, and enhance the resilience of marine and coastal ecosystems,\u201d he added. \u201cThe choices we make today will determine how high temperatures peak, how long they remain there, and how safely we can return to 1.5\u00b0C.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more DSA Candidate Criticizes 8 Dems Who Voted for \u201cAnti-Socialism\u201d House Measure<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The report said the overshoot is not a point of no return, and that steps can be taken to ensure it is only temporary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nUN Report Says Earth Will Overshoot 1.5C Warming, Emission Cuts Can Limit Damage - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UN Report Says Earth Will Overshoot 1.5C Warming, Emission Cuts Can Limit Damage - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The report said the overshoot is not a point of no return, and that steps can be taken to ensure it is only temporary.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-02T20:12:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1766#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1766\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"UN Report Says Earth Will Overshoot 1.5C Warming, Emission Cuts Can Limit Damage\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-02T20:12:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1766\"},\"wordCount\":1247,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1766#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/c6e3c76210057d76af8188ff14c1bf1f.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1766#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1766\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1766\",\"name\":\"UN Report Says Earth Will Overshoot 1.5C Warming, Emission Cuts Can Limit Damage - Smart Moving Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1766#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1766#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/c6e3c76210057d76af8188ff14c1bf1f.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-02T20:12:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1766#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1766\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1766#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/c6e3c76210057d76af8188ff14c1bf1f.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/c6e3c76210057d76af8188ff14c1bf1f.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1766#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UN Report Says Earth Will Overshoot 1.5C Warming, Emission Cuts Can Limit Damage\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Smart Moving Home\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UN Report Says Earth Will Overshoot 1.5C Warming, Emission Cuts Can Limit Damage - Smart Moving Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UN Report Says Earth Will Overshoot 1.5C Warming, Emission Cuts Can Limit Damage - Smart Moving Home","og_description":"The report said the overshoot is not a point of no return, and that steps can be taken to ensure it is only temporary.","og_url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766","og_site_name":"Smart Moving Home","article_published_time":"2026-09-02T20:12:44+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"headline":"UN Report Says Earth Will Overshoot 1.5C Warming, Emission Cuts Can Limit Damage","datePublished":"2026-09-02T20:12:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766"},"wordCount":1247,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/c6e3c76210057d76af8188ff14c1bf1f.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766","name":"UN Report Says Earth Will Overshoot 1.5C Warming, Emission Cuts Can Limit Damage - Smart Moving Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/c6e3c76210057d76af8188ff14c1bf1f.jpg","datePublished":"2026-09-02T20:12:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/c6e3c76210057d76af8188ff14c1bf1f.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/c6e3c76210057d76af8188ff14c1bf1f.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1766#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UN Report Says Earth Will Overshoot 1.5C Warming, Emission Cuts Can Limit Damage"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/","name":"Smart Moving Home","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/smartmovinghome.com"],"url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}