And over the past decade, governments and businesses have made progress in weaning themselves from fossil fuels by ramping up wind and solar power, for example, and investing in electric vehicle infrastructure.
Yet the report issued on Wednesday, led by researchers at the Stockholm Environment Institute, found that nations of the world plan to keep increasing coal production until 2030, and oil and gas production decades beyond that.
The world was also set to overshoot, by 69 percent, the amount of fossil fuels consistent with limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius.
Beyond those thresholds, the world faces the danger of irreversible and catastrophic damage from climate change, scientists say.
The authors partly credited nations’ nascent efforts to rein in their emissions under the 2015 Paris Agreement, and the rapid growth in clean energy.
Organizations:
Stockholm Environment Institute
Locations:
Stockholm, Paris