What is the primary objective of the Paris Agreement regarding global temperature rise?

What is the primary objective of the Paris Agreement regarding global temperature rise?

• A. Fully eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
• B. Increase resilience to climate impacts without any temperature targets.
• C. Ignore pre-industrial baselines in defining targets.
• D. Limit global average temperature rise well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue 1.5°C through nationally determined contributions.

Answer: (D)

The main idea tested here is the specific temperature goal the Paris Agreement sets for the world. The agreement aims to limit the global average temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. This objective is pursued through nationally determined contributions, meaning each country voluntarily outlines its emission-reduction and adaptation plans and updates them over time, with a framework for increasing ambition and ensuring transparency. The reference point for measuring success is the pre-industrial baseline, so the targets are defined relative to that period. The other options don’t fit because they either propose actions not specified as the primary goal (such as forcing complete elimination of all greenhouse gases by a fixed date), or they ignore the temperature targets altogether (focusing only on resilience), or they contradict how targets are defined (ignoring pre-industrial baselines).

The main idea tested here is the specific temperature goal the Paris Agreement sets for the world. The agreement aims to limit the global average temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. This objective is pursued through nationally determined contributions, meaning each country voluntarily outlines its emission-reduction and adaptation plans and updates them over time, with a framework for increasing ambition and ensuring transparency. The reference point for measuring success is the pre-industrial baseline, so the targets are defined relative to that period.

The other options don’t fit because they either propose actions not specified as the primary goal (such as forcing complete elimination of all greenhouse gases by a fixed date), or they ignore the temperature targets altogether (focusing only on resilience), or they contradict how targets are defined (ignoring pre-industrial baselines).