To limit global warming to 1.5°, the EU's Scientific Advisory Panel on Climate Change recommends that Europe reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 90 % – 95 % by 2040 compared to 1990. Fossil fuels should be phased out as quickly as possible. The reason is clear:  climatic The crisis is here and now. We are perhaps experiencing  the warmest year in the history of mankind. Record-warm oceans are contributing to historic flooding in China, Greece, Slovenia and Norway. Wildfires have ruined summer vacations for Northern Europeans and devastated the Hawaiian island of Maui. Tourists in Texas and chickens in England have died from heat stress. However, there is broad political support for the 1.5°C target in the Paris Agreement, both in Norway and in Europe. All (distribution) principles based on historical emissions show that rich countries and China have exhausted their share of the emissions budget and then some. Politicians have promised voters that they will take strong action to reduce emissions. Emissions of 350 billion tons are enough to increase atmospheric concentrations of CO ₂ to the point where we have a 50 % probability that the average global temperature will reach or exceed the 1.5°C threshold above the pre-industrial average. Just last year they achieved  carbon emissions from energy and cement production, a record 37 billion tons, according to the Global Carbon Project. Without a sharp slowdown, we will pass 1.5° around 2030. This summer gave us a taste of what an average year will look like then. (Edgar Hertwich, Norwegian University of Science and Technology)