Timely action needed to meet climate targets

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) The Paris Agreement of the UN climate change conference is deemed a historic step for climate protection, but its success depends on rapid implementations. The consequences of delaying global CO2 emission reductions for the climate and the world oceans are assessed in a new study by climate physicists from the University of Bern. In December 2015, an ambitious agreement has been adopted by the UN climate change conference COP 21. The "Paris Agreement" contains the objective to limit global warming to "well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels". This requires substantial reductions in CO₂ emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. The net emissions should be reduced to zero in the second half of this century. However, during the last few decades, global CO₂ emissions have been rising by roughly 2 percent per year.