1.5 Degrees: Meeting the challenges of the Paris agreement

The 1.5 Degrees Conference brought together researchers, policymakers, business leaders, and members of civil society to understand the impacts of warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and assess the feasibility of meeting the challenges in the Paris Climate Agreement. The conference reviewed the arguments behind the 1.5 degrees goal and sought to understand how the goal is to be interpreted. It explored the options for how a 1.5 degrees target could be achieved and evaluate the possible consequences of the goal from a wide range of perspectives.

IIASA Deputy Director General  Nebojsa Nakicenovic  and researchers Jeori Rogelj and Brian Walsh participated in the conference. 

More information: The science behind the 1.5 °C climate goal (University of Oxford Press Release)

IIASA Participation

20 September 2016
PUBLIC LECTURE: The Paris climate deal: origins, ambitions and implications
Launching the 1.5 Degrees International Conference, the University of Oxford is proud to present a special evening of keynote speeches and discussion from some of the key figures behind the historic Paris Climate Agreement, including Laurence Tubiana, French Ambassador for climate negotiations, Tony de Brum, the force behind the High Ambition Coalition, Nebojsa Nakicenovic, IIASA and IPCC scientist, and Janos Pasztor, Senior Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on Climate Change.

 20 September 2016: 20:00 - Oxford Town Hall
Tickets available here

21 September
Poster Session

IIASA researcher Brian Walsh will present research on the potential of algae as feedstock as a negative emissions technology.

21 September: 17:15-19:30

22 September
Parallel Session: Mitigation Pathways for 1.5 Degrees
IIASA researcher Joeri Rogelj will chair this session focused on scenarios for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. IIASA-affiliated scientist Charlie Wilson will also speak in this session.

22 September: 14:00-15:50

More information

• Conference Program
• Speakers

IIASA research on the 1.5 degree target

Country pledges overshoot Paris temperature limit

Individual country pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would need to be strengthened in order to limit future climate change to well below the 2°C limit included in the Paris climate agreement, according to a new assessment. More

1.5°C vs 2°C: Why half a degree matters

An average global temperature rise of 1.5°C or 2°C over the coming century would have substantially different impacts on the planet, according to a new study. More

Can Paris pledges avert severe climate change?

An international group of researchers shows that the Paris pledges on climate change could lay the groundwork for limiting climate change to the internationally agreed target of less than 2 degrees Celsius. More

Last edited: 22 September 2016