Climate Overshoot Commission holds its Second Meeting

The Climate Overshoot Commission, a project of the Paris Peace Forum, held its second meeting on September 17th and 18th in New York City, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and its annual “Climate Week.”

The Commissioners developed a shared understanding of the impending risk of overshooting the Paris Agreement global warming goals, the decades of insufficient greenhouse-gas emissions reductions that have led to this situation, and the causes of these conditions. Cutting across this was the impact of the recent multiplication of crises and the growing geopolitical risks. They strongly underlined that the Paris Agreement remains central to climate diplomacy efforts, and that nothing should displace the need to continue to aggressively pursue emissions cuts. Members also highlighted that international mechanisms to pursue development objectives needed to be fulfilled.

[The commissionners] strongly underlined that the Paris Agreement remains central to climate diplomacy efforts, and that nothing should displace the need to continue to aggressively pursue emissions cuts.

The Commission then explored, together with its three high-level science advisors, additional approaches to manage and reduce climate overshoot. Current adaptation finance is insufficient, and multilateral mechanisms to assess, promote, and fund effective adaptation in diverse national and local settings are needed. Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) options were discussed in depth, assessing their associated limits and impacts, including issues of scalability, permanence of storage, and potential impacts and co-benefits. And sunlight reflection methods (SRM) hold potential to counter climate change and raise serious issues: lingering uncertainties, possible deterrent to reducing emissions, and decision-making.

Finally, members discussed the evolution of global climate change talks leading up to the 27th and 28th UN climate change Conferences of Parties (COP), and other fora, in order to position the Commission’s further work so as to most constructively contribute to an effective climate response.

The Commission meets next in Egypt in mid-November, on the sidelines of the COP.