Implications of the remaining carbon budget for climate policies and emissions targets

The recent IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C brought renewed attention to the concept of our remaining carbon budget — the limit on total allowable future CO2 emissions that is required to avoid surpassing the temperature limits of the Paris Agreement. The idea of a finite amount of allowable future emissions underscores the need for governments to adopt ambitious net-zero emissions targets that are consistent the global remaining carbon budget. However, there are also many subjective choices embedded in both the ways that the remaining carbon budget is quantified, as well in how this global quantity is used to inform climate policy targets in or within individual nations. In this presentation, I will give an overview of the science that underlies the remaining carbon budget, and will discuss both opportunities and potential pitfalls that emerge when adopting carbon budget policies at the level of national or local governments.