Making The 1.5°C Limit A Reality—Next Steps to Accelerate Action

The Stanley Center will co-host a policy salon dinner where participants will share strategies and align their next steps in accelerating and amplifying developments toward the 1.5° C goal going into 2018.

This past year has shown developments that lay the groundwork and present opportunities in light of upcoming moments, including the IPCC Special Report on 1.5° C, the Global Climate Action Summit, and the Facilitative Dialogue. These developments include:

• There is greater understanding of the climate impacts of 1.5° C, as well as the pathways and economic opportunities of a rapid transformation within the 1.5° C limit.
• 1.5° C has been translated into milestones like bending the global emissions curve by 2020 and net-zero emissions by 2050, sectoral efforts like 100 percent renewable energy, and impacts like the effects of ocean acidification.
• The 1.5° C limit has galvanized the climate movement into making a united case for early, faster climate action. This focus on early action has allowed the climate movement to take some attention off controversial technologies.
• Front runners—cities, businesses, states and regions, and countries committing to pursuing 1.5° C and taking the biggest steps in climate action—have emerged to associate ambitious climate action with economic prosperity and political leadership.
• New coalitions are forming for targeted, 1.5° C-relevant actions (e.g., coal phaseout).

This dinner also presents an opportunity for participants to discuss new issues to tackle on the 1.5° C agenda (for example, sustainable behavior and consumption, just transition, and linkages with the Sustainable Development Goals).