In Paris in 2015, almost 200 countries signed a landmark agreement designed to limit global warming to 1.5C and avoid its worst impacts.

But despite some progress in areas like renewable energy, the world has continued to warm at a rapid pace.

A recent UN report said the target was likely to be breached in the next few years and that “urgent and stringent” action would be needed to return the world to 1.5C.

The Paris Agreement is at the heart of the international commitment to tackle rising global temperatures.

It came into force on 4 November 2016 and saw almost all the nations of the world agree to cut the greenhouse gas emissions which cause global warming.

However, the United States – the world’s second biggest greenhouse gas emitter – withdrew from the deal in January 2026 under President Donald Trump.

The US also withdrew during Trump’s first presidency, but it rejoined in 2021 under his successor President Joe Biden.

The only other UN member states outside the Paris agreement are Iran, Libya and Yemen.

The Paris Agreement lists a series of commitments:

The 1.5C target is generally accepted to refer to a 20-year average rather than a single year.

So, while 2024 was more than 1.5C warmer than pre-industrial times, it did not mean the Paris Agreement threshold has been breached

Every 0.1C of warming brings with it greater risks for the planet, such as longer heatwaves, more intense storms and wildfires, according to climate scientists.

But a very large body of scientific evidence shows that warming of 2C or more would bring far greater impacts, on top of those felt at 1.5C, UN scientists say.

These include:

Some changes could become irreversible if so-called “tipping points” are crossed.

It is not clear exactly where these sit, but once these thresholds are passed, changes could accelerate and become irreversible.

These could include the collapse of the Greenland Ice Sheet, warm Atlantic Ocean currents or further loss of the Amazon rainforest.

The Paris deal restated a 2009 commitment that richer countries should provide $100bn (£73bn) annually by 2020 to help developing nations deal with the effects of climate change and build greener economies.

Although only $83.3bn was raised in 2020, data from the OECD, external shows the goal was reached in each of the three years after 2022.

Almost two-thirds of the money in recent years has gone towards efforts to limit global warming, while around a quarter has been used to help nations adapt to climate change.

In 2023, countries agreed for the first time that a fund should be established exclusively for loss and damage. This is money to help countries recover from the impacts of climate change.

Nepal became the first country approved to receive money from the fund after a flash flood in August 2026 killed more than 1,400 people.

At COP29 in 2024, richer nations committed to providing $300bn (£219bn) a year to developing nations by 2035. Developing countries – which had hoped for more – criticised the “paltry sum”.

World leaders meet every year to discuss their climate commitments at international summits known as COPs (Conference of the Parties).

All COPs since 2015 have tracked how countries are building on what they promised in Paris.

At COP28 in 2023, countries agreed for the first time to “contribute” to “transitioning away from fossil fuels”, although they were not forced to take any specific action.

Countries also agreed to treble the global capacity of renewables – such as wind and solar – by 2030.

But the final deal at COP30 in 2025 failed to directly mention fossil fuels. Instead, the host of the conference, Brazil, published a voluntary roadmap for moving away from fossil fuels, which will be discussed at COP31.

That COP is taking place from 9 to 20 November 2026 in Antalya, Turkey and is co-hosted by Australia.

A “coalition of the willing” composed of 57 countries has also organised its own conferences separate from the COP process to discuss phasing out fossil fuels.

The first meeting was held in Santa Marta, Colombia in April 2026, and another conference is scheduled for July 2027 in Tuvalu.

The long-term 1.5C global warming target has not yet been breached.

But the latest UN Emissions Gap Report, external said the limit was likely to be exceeded in the next few years after “decades of insufficient climate action”.

In the “lowest possible” scenario, warming would still reach 1.7 to 1.8C by the mid-century, the report said.

A return to 1.5C by 2100 is possible, but it will require “urgent and stringent cuts to greenhouse emissions”, the UN added.

Specifically, emissions would need to be cut by 18% between 2025 and 2030.

The report found that the pledges governments have made so far would only cover half of these cuts.

Without further action, global warming could reach nearly 3C by the end of the century, the research said.