World is 'nowhere near 1.5C warming target'

The 1.5C figure in the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement refers to the limit of warming compared to the pre-industrial age that the world must adhere to in order to avoid catastrophic climate change.  Picture: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File

Greenhouse gas emissions are creeping downwards but remain far short of what is required this decade to adequately stay within the 1.5C target to limit the fallout from climate change.

That is according to a newly released assessment from the UN, which found that the combined climate pledges of 192 countries plus the EU under the Paris Agreement of 2015 could still put the world on track for around 2.5C of global warming by the end of the century.