What is 1.5 °C and how can it be useful for climate action? - Isabel Cotton* and Naomi Vaughan* *University of East Anglia, Norwich

Significant campaigning in the run-up to was agreed that 1.5 °C serves as a tool to summarise the COP21 in Paris saw the aspirations of climate mitigation many different impacts of climate change. [...] For example, raised, in the 2015 Paris agreement, to a 1.5 °C target, and Tyndall research has investigated the difference of limiting led to a special report on 1.5 °C by the Intergovernmental global warming to 1.5 °C rather than 2 °C, in terms of Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2018). [...] While 1.5 °C was deemed useful to galvanise policymakers, it What does 1.5 °C mean? was felt the lived experience of climate impacts has greater While the target refers to curtailing global warming to a 1.5 resonance with the public than a single temperature target. [...] Adding complexity to the use of a target is stories – on how many of the days, weeks, and months that different parts of the world will reach 1.5 °C warming ahead that the world surpasses 1.5 °C – is endless. [...] cycle of media stories could be in the coming years: could growing coverage of breaching 1.5 °C lead to despair and further inaction on the climate crisis? As a community of researchers on climate change, the Further reading: session ended with a discussion on how to use the attention of 1.5°C to increase momentum for climate action, rather Cointe, B.