Earth hits 1.5°c: three critical steps to pull back from climate b…

The world has crossed a sobering threshold: global temperatures last year averaged more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, officially breaching the Paris Agreement’s critical target. While this doesn’t permanently doom our climate goals, it signals that time is running dangerously short and half-measures won’t suffice.

As negotiators prepare for COP30 in Belém, experts argue that saving the 1.5°C target requires a three-pronged approach that goes far beyond traditional energy solutions. Think of Earth as an overheating pressure cooker—simply turning down the fossil fuel burner isn’t enough when steam is still escaping through deforestation and damaged natural carbon storage systems.

The first track involves rapidly accelerating the fossil fuel phase-out through concrete, sector-specific targets embedded in countries’ climate commitments. This means moving beyond vague promises to implement credible financing for renewable grids, energy storage, and clean industry—changes that create jobs and visible benefits for communities.

The second track demands a time-bound roadmap to end deforestation entirely, stopping the destruction of crucial carbon-storing ecosystems. The third focuses on scaling up nature’s own carbon capture capabilities by protecting and restoring forests, mangroves, seagrasses, and other “blue carbon” systems that naturally pull CO2 from the atmosphere.

Without pursuing all three tracks simultaneously—cutting emissions, stopping forest destruction, and harnessing nature’s carbon-storing power—the world risks what experts describe as “catastrophic system failure.” The 1.5°C target remains technically possible, but only with immediate, comprehensive action that treats the climate crisis with the urgency it demands.