A research team closes the information gap in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and presents surprising data. It is probably one of the most important climate protection questions: How much CO₂ can humans produce to keep the global temperature from rising by more than 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times? The Paris Climate Agreement states that every effort should be made to achieve this goal.

Now updated data from The Global Climate Change Initiative shows: The CO₂ budget is falling faster than expected. Humans can still produce around 200 billion tons of CO₂, otherwise there is a 50 percent chance that the Paris target will not be met.

In concrete terms, this means: With current global emissions of around 40 billion tonnes, the CO₂ budget will run out in 2029. If you want to stay “well below 2 degrees of warming”, as required by the Paris Agreement, you have more time: the CO₂ budget will then last until 2051. (Martin Läubli, more at bazonline.ch)