In a lecture at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire on 24 November 2016, Dr Christopher Watson, Chair of British Pugwash, and Jef Ongena, Chair of the European Physical Society Energy Group explored energy strategies that give a mean surface temperature rise of less than 2 degrees by 2100, as required by the Paris Agreement, using the DECC Global Calculator.
The lecture aimed to address issues not covered by the Agreement, including: baseline data defining the meaning of “pre-industrial levels” of emissions; a timetable for reaching stability at a rise level “well below 2oC”; a list of relevant Greenhouse Gases (GHGs); a procedure for estimating future temperature rises from cumulative GHG emissions; and sufficient clarity in its distinction between the obligations of ‘developed’ and ‘developing nations.