An IPCC Special Report on 1.5 °C should focus on resolving fundamental scientific and political uncertainties, not fixate on developing unachievable mitigation pathways.
References
Adoption of the Paris Agreement FCCC/CP/2015/L.9/Rev1 (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2015).
Clarke, L. et al. in Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change (eds Edenhofer, O. et al.) Ch. 6 (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2014).
Rogelj, J. et al. Nature Clim. Change 5, 519–527 (2015).
The Emissions Gap Report 2015 (United Nations Environment Programme, 2015).
Synthesis Report on the Aggregate Effect of the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 2015).
IPCC Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report (eds Pachauri, R. K. & Meyer, L. A.) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2014).
Met Office. 2015: The Warmest Year on Record, say Scientists; www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2016/2015-global-temperature (accessed 24 January 2016).
Holthaus, E. Our Planet's Temperature Just Reached a Terrifying Milestone http://go.nature.com/kBYAgX (2016).
Anderson, K. Nature Geosci. 8, 898–900 (2015).
Geden, O. Nature 521, 27–28 (2015).
Collins, M. et al. in Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis (eds Stocker, T. F. et al.) 1029–1136 (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013).
Rogelj, J. et al. Nature Clim. Change 6, 245–252 (2016).
Fuss, S. et al. Nature Clim. Change 4, 850–853 (2014).
Houghton, R. A., Byers, B. & Nassikas, A. A. Nature Clim. Change 5, 1022–1023 (2015).
Creutzig, F. et al. GCB Bioenergy 7, 916–944 (2014).
de Coninck, H. & Benson, S. M. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 39, 243–270 (2014).
The Global Status of CCS: 2015 (Global CCS Institute, 2015); http://go.nature.com/aXPQAU
van Vuuren, D. P., van Sluisveld, M. & Hof, A. F. Implications of Long-Term Scenarios for Medium-Term Targets (2050) (PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, 2015); http://go.nature.com/16LZaH
Smith, P. et al. Nature Clim. Change 6, 42–50 (2015).
Williamson, P. Nature 530, 153–155 (2016).
Myhre, G. et al. in Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis (eds Stocker, T. F. et al.) 659–740 (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013).
Shine, K. P., Berntsen, T., Fuglestvedt, J. S., Stuber, N. & Skeie, R. B. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 365, 1903–1914 (2007).
Rogelj, J., McCollum, D. L., Reisinger, A., Meinshausen, M. & Riahi, K. Nature 493, 79–83 (2013).
Hulme, M. Nature Clim. Change 6, 222–224 (2016).
Stern, N. Nature 530, 407–409 (2016).
Kriegler, E. et al. Clim. Change Econ. 4, 1340008 (2013).
Acknowledgements
G.P.P. was supported by the Research Council of Norway project 209701.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
The 'best available science' to inform 1.5 °C policy choices (PDF 1642 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Peters, G. The 'best available science' to inform 1.5 °C policy choices. Nature Clim Change 6, 646–649 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3000
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3000
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
The land–energy–water nexus of global bioenergy potentials from abandoned cropland
Nature Sustainability (2021)
-
Persistent inequality in economically optimal climate policies
Nature Communications (2021)
-
A multi-model analysis of long-term emissions and warming implications of current mitigation efforts
Nature Climate Change (2021)
-
Comparing transformation pathways across major economies
Climatic Change (2020)
-
Achievement of Paris climate goals unlikely due to time lags in the land system
Nature Climate Change (2019)