A new report from the United Nations states the world is certain to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, a target considered crucial to mitigating climate change for the past decade. Despite this inevitability, policymakers continue to uphold the 1.5-degree goal. The agreement to limit warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, striving for 1.5 degrees, was initially set at the 2015 Paris climate summit. Climate scientist Leo Meyer, present at the Paris summit, recalls the understanding even then that achieving 1.5 degrees would require significant action. Journalist Rob Ramaker notes a lack of substantial progress in recent years, compounded by the withdrawal of the US from climate discussions under former President Trump. The UN proposes a plan to return to the 1.5-degree target, but it necessitates enormous, currently unrealized steps. Current trajectories indicate a future with more severe consequences of climate change.