India, Oct. 21 -- With global temperature rise set to exceed 1.5degC above pre-industrial levels, urgent and stringent cuts to greenhouse emissions are needed to minimize the magnitude and duration of this overshoot and to return to 1.5degC by the end of the century, a new report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on Wednesday has found.

Coming ahead of COP31 in Turkey next month, the "Emissions Gap Report 2026: The Point of Return" has looked at the 'lowest possible' 1.5degC overshoot scenario, in which peak warming by around the middle of the century is limited to 1.7-1.8degC and global temperature rise returns to or below 1.5degC by 2100, with a 50% chance. It also finds that if current policies continue, warm...