UN says world must navigate ‘reality’ of 1.5 deg C overshoot

PARIS - The United Nations outlined on Sept 2 how the world might bring global temperatures back to 1.5 deg C once the milestone target is breached in a first-of-its-kind assessment that drew criticism from climate activists.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in 2025 acknowledged the inevitability of overshooting 1.5 deg C but this is the first time a UN agency has addressed this head-on in a dedicated report.Scientists agree that warming above 1.5 deg C relative to pre-industrial times poses grave risks and nearly 200 nations committed in 2015 to try and keep global temperature rises to this safer threshold.But the world is expected to blow past 1.5 deg C in a matter of years and attention has pivoted to making any “overshoot” as brief and contained as possible.In a much-anticipated re