Statement: UNEP Report Warns World is Soon to Exceed 1.5°C ‒ but Return is Possible
WASHINGTON (September 2, 2026) — UNEP today published Limiting Overshoot, its first report on the likelihood and consequences of exceeding 1.5°C of global warming. It finds that global temperature rise is set to cross 1.5°C, likely within the next few years, pushing climate risks to increasingly dangerous levels.
The report also finds that temperatures can still be brought back down in line with the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement. Doing so will require aggressive emissions cuts, a major scale-up of responsible carbon removal — ultimately moving beyond net zero to net-negative emissions — and urgent action on adaptation and resilience to address climate impacts.
Following is a statement from David Waskow, Director of WRI's International Climate Initiative:
“Crossing 1.5°C is no longer a distant possibility. Extreme heat, floods, fires and droughts are already giving us a glimpse of what a hotter world brings: homes under water, harvests wiped out and communities still rebuilding when the next disaster strikes. With a developing Super El Niño, the worst may still be ahead. Every fraction of a degree raises the toll.
“How far temperatures rise, how long they stay there and how much damage is done still depends enormously on what countries do now — and there's a way to do it that's low-carbon and climate-resilient and delivers growth rather than locking in greater risk.
“Moving faster on clean energy, resilient food and water systems, and adaptation is proving that countries can protect people and their economies together — lowering costs, creating jobs and strengthening economies. Getting there will need all hands on deck: mobilizing political will, building inclusive governance and effective policy, and unlocking both public and private finance.
"Getting temperatures back down will require scaling up carbon removal substantially and responsibly, without undermining the land, food and water systems communities depend on. But carbon removal cannot substitute for deep emissions cuts, including rapid reductions in methane. We need both, and much faster.
“We also have to prepare for the warming we can no longer avoid. For communities on the front lines, adaptation can mean the difference between a shock and a catastrophe. Acting early pays off: recent WRI research found that every $1 invested in adaptation can generate more than $10 in benefits.
“At a time when wars, trade tensions and fractured diplomacy are pulling countries apart, climate change is making cooperation more necessary, not less. No country can insulate itself from a world that overshoots 1.5°C. The longer countries delay, the more the costs fall onto those least able to bear them.”
