Features of the objective 

• From 1880 to 2012, average global temperature increased by 0.85°C. To put this into perspective, for each 1 degree of temperature increase, grain yields decline by about 5 per cent. Maize, wheat and other major crops have experienced significant yield reductions at the global level of 40 megatons per year between 1981 and 2002 due to a warmer climate.
• Oceans have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished and sea level has risen.From 1901 to 2010, the global average sea level rose by 19 cm as oceans expanded due to warming and ice melted. The Arctic's sea ice extent has shrunk in every successive decade since 1979, with 1.07 million km² of ice loss every decade
• Given current concentrations and on-going emissions of greenhouse gases, it is likely that by the end of this century, the increase in global temperature will exceed 1.5°C compared to 1850 to 1900 for all but one scenario. The world's oceans will warm and ice melt will continue. Average sea level rise is predicted as 24 - 30cm by 2065 and 40-63cm by 2100. Most aspects of climate change will persist for many centuries even if emissions are stopped
• Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) have increased by almost 50 per cent since 1990
• Emissions grew more quickly between 2000 and 2010 than in each of the three previous decades
• It is still possible, using a wide array of technological measures and changes in behavior, to limit the increase in global mean temperature to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels
• Major institutional and technological change will give a better than even chance that global warming will not exceed this threshold