The thermometer has no Undo button

1.8°C is the expected peak even in UNEP’s optimistic scenario of current pledges, where national plans and additional net-zero targets are all met. It is neither a long-term temperature already reached nor a guaranteed ceiling. The figure removes one escape route: delivering existing promises would not be enough to avoid overshoot.^[2]

The proposed response combines immediate emissions cuts, adaptation and, to bring temperatures down, lasting CO₂ removal. UNEP insists that removal must supplement cuts, not replace them. It also warns of irreversible losses. Returning to a number does not return land, ecosystems or livelihoods.^[1]

We will therefore read the next plans with two columns: what they prevent now and what they assume they can repair later. That second column needs named means, funding and risks. The future must not become the after-sales service for what we decline to do today.^[1]