Global warming beyond Paris Agreement targets is now a given, UN says. Experts say it should be a call to action, not apathy.

Under the Paris Agreement, countries pledged to make an effort to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, in order to avoid intense impacts of climate change. But that level of warming is now “widely assessed as unavoidable,” according to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme titled “Limiting Overshoot.” Our planet is likely to surpass 1.5°C within the next few years. The best case scenario—if all national climate plans are fully implemented and net-zero targets reached—is now a world with 1.8°C of warming. Many countries are not on that path, however. As of 2025, only 15 countries even met the Paris Agreement’s deadline for submitting their plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions. More likely is a world with 2.6°C of warming, which the UN says we could hit by 2100 under current policies. Still, climate experts warn people not to give up on climate actions. Though that reality may seem discouraging, there are still meaningful steps we can take, they say, to avoid “cascading climate impacts.” And every action matters: though we’ll likely see intense climate impacts, “every fraction of a degree avoided…will save lives, protect ecosystems and red…