Only Morocco and the Gambia are doing enough to reach the 1.5-degree target

The world is nowhere near the measures needed to reach the Paris Agreement's goal of trying to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. If the world continues on the beaten path, the target can already be exceeded in 15 years, according to Climate Action Tracker (CAT), which analyzes countries' climate ambitions.

The analysis includes 32 countries that together account for 80 percent of the world's emissions. The analysis is based on so-called climate justice; that is, what a country should do based on its historical and current emissions as well as its capacity. Only Morocco and the Gambia are doing enough to reach the 1.5-degree target.

Their strategy is large-scale solar energy projects. Morocco, which has so far been almost entirely dependent on imported fossil fuels for its energy needs, has built one of the world's largest solar power plants.

The facility covers an area corresponding to 3,500 football pitches and is so large that it can be seen from space. Solar energy will provide electricity to over one million households. By 2030, renewable energy will account for 52 percent of Morocco's energy needs.

The Gambia also plans to achieve major emission reductions through reforestation. In 2018, they started a project to restore 10,000 hectares of forest, mangrove and savanna.

But it is not enough that only the King of Morocco and the President of Gambia make radical decisions. In order to meet the 1.5-degree target, global emissions must be halved by ten years, according to the IPCC - UN Climate Panel.

- Right now we are on the path to twice as much warming as the countries have promised in the Paris Agreement. They must raise their level of ambition substantially, says Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, one of the organizations behind the analysis.

Sweden's goal is that by 2045 there will be no net greenhouse gas emissions, which in practice means that emissions must be at least 85 percent lower than in 1990. Climate Action Trackers analyzes do not count on Sweden as an individual country, but with the EU's common goals. As seen from today, the EU's emission targets according to CAT would lead to three degrees of warming.

At the UN's next climate summit, COP25, which takes place in December in Chile, the world's leaders have their chance. Then the 185 countries that have ratified the Paris Agreement will update their national climate plans for 2020.

Read the full Climate Action Trackers analysis here.