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Scenarios science needed in UNFCCC periodic review

Nature Climate Change volume 10, page 272 (2020)Cite this article

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To the Editor — The outcomes of the 25th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC are widely regarded as a disappointment. However, among the decisions that were taken is one of central importance for the UNFCCC’s science–policy interface — ‘the periodic review of the long-term global goal and of overall progress towards achieving it’ is going into its second phase, which is starting in 2020 (ref. 1).

The periodic review is a science-based process under the UNFCCC that dates back to COP16 in Cancun2. It is mandated to assess the adequacy of the long-term (temperature) goal in light of the ultimate objective of the UNFCCC: that is, “to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”3. The first review was held during 2013–2015 and included an extensive dialogue between policy-makers and scientists, termed the Structured Expert Dialogue (SED)4, which established that 2 °C cannot be considered safe4. This provided the essential scientific basis for the inclusion of the 1.5 °C long-term temperature limit in the Paris Agreement5.

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References

  1. Scope of the Second Periodic Review of the Long-Term Global Goal Under the Convention and of Overall Progress Towards Achieving it FCCC/SB/2017/L.1 (UNFCCC, 2019).

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  4. UNFCCC. Report on the Structured Expert Dialogue on the 2013–2015 Review FCCC/SB/2015/INF.1 (UNFCCC, 2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Climate Analytics, Berlin, Germany

    Carl-Friedrich Schleussner & Claire L. Fyson

  2. Integrative Research Institute on Transformations of Human-Environment Systems (IRI THESys), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Carl-Friedrich Schleussner

Authors
  1. Carl-Friedrich Schleussner
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  2. Claire L. Fyson
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Correspondence to Carl-Friedrich Schleussner.

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Schleussner, CF., Fyson, C.L. Scenarios science needed in UNFCCC periodic review. Nat. Clim. Chang. 10, 272 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0729-9

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