Speed matters – the longer we leave it, the harder it gets. Scientists now know that achieving any climate outcome, such as the Paris agreement goal of limiting global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures, is dependent on cumulative emissions over time.
In other words, there is a finite carbon budget, and we have already used most of it. The longer we continue with high emissions, the more drastic cuts will need to become in future years in order to stay within the overall budget. On the graph below, the total carbon budget is the area under the emissions line.
If we hit the end of the budget without having cut emissions at all, by about 2029 we would have to eliminate all carbon emissions within a single year. Obviously that
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