A UN Environment Programme report titled Limiting Overshoot says global heating will reach at least 1.8C above preindustrial levels even under the most optimistic scenarios and that overshooting the Paris 1.5C limit is now unavoidable. The Nairobi based report warns every fraction of warming intensifies extreme weather, glacier melt, ecosystem loss, and submersion of islands and coastal cities, and says some losses will be irreversible. UNEP scientists say heating up to 3C could melt more than a quarter of glacier mass by 2100 and raise sea levels by up to 13cm, while global food production could fall by up to 14% by 2050 without effective adaptation. The report calls for an overshoot, peak and decline pathway that combines immediate, sustained greenhouse gas emissions cuts with large scale carbon dioxide removal, saying returning average temperature to 1.5C this century is possible only if peak warming stays below about 1.8C. UNEP executive director Inger Andersen warned extreme heatwaves are already striking faster, hitting harder and lasting longer. Palau president Surangel Whipps Jr described the report as a fork in the road for the planet and urged urgent political will and investment, while Pacific Island students cited the International Court of Justice when demanding an end to fossil fuel expansion. The report stresses net zero remains an essential milestone and that carbon removal must complement, not replace, deep cuts in fossil pollution.
