29 September | Online

The 2015 Paris Agreement pledged to limit global warming to well below 2 °C and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C relative to pre-industrial levels. However, fossil fuels continue to dominate the global energy system and a sharp decline in their use must be realised to keep the temperature increase below 1.5 °C.

Continued investment in fossil fuels means that the world is on track to exceed the safe limits of the carbon budget many times over. Financial institutions have a key role to play in the energy transition away from fossil fuels, but we’re still seeing significant investment and capital expenditure from companies.

The message is clear: to stay within the finite limits of the carbon budget, fossil fuel production and demand must decline. Lower production and demand will deem many operational and planned fossil fuel projects economically unviable and increasing the risk of stranded assets.

Five years on from Paris, with COP26 on the horizon and recovering from a global pandemic, UCL and Carbon Tracker bring together a panel of experts from across the financial industry and academia to discuss the latest analysis around the Carbon Budget, the opportunities and challenges of meeting 1.5˚C, and the impact for investors.