Global climate warming is expected to cross the 1.5 C temperature threshold — the lower limit of the Paris Agreement temperature goal — within a handful of years. This temperature increase shows no signs of slowing, and on our current trajectory, Canada is likely to experience temperatures 5 C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century.

These are the headline messages of two major climate reports that were released earlier this month: The United Nations Environment Programme’s Limiting Overshoot report is a stark reminder that global climate mitigation efforts have been insufficient to avoid exceeding this critical climate target. Canada’s Changing Climate Report 2026 shows in detail just what the consequences of this global failure could mean for Canadians.

None of this is good news, nor is it surprising. In 2015, the same year that the Paris Agreement was signed, I joined with colleagues in Montréal and around the world to launch the Climate Clock project, which for the past decade has counted down the time remaining until we reach the 1.5 C above pre-industrial temperatures.

I hoped at the time that global mitigation efforts would succeed in reducing emissions and adding time to the clock. This has not happened fast enough,........

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