Global warming is likely to pass 1.5°C within the next few years, according to a UNEP report released on 2 September. The agency says reducing the scale and duration of that exceedance remains essential.

The report outlines a pathway involving rapid emissions cuts, adaptation and eventual net-negative emissions. It warns that risks intensify as temperatures rise and that some impacts cannot be reversed.

UNEP presents returning below the threshold as a difficult objective requiring sustained action, rather than a guaranteed outcome.

Source: UNEP · Source date: 2026-09-02.

File photo: Breaking waves, Sète cf03.jpg — Christian Ferrer. Wikimedia Commons original · CC BY 4.0. Resized; cropped in cards. Representative image, not a photograph of the reported event.