France, Sept. 2 -- The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said the 1.5C threshold was the more ambitious goal countries agreed to pursue under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, alongside a commitment to keep warming well below 2C.

Average global temperatures have already risen by about 1.4C above pre-industrial levels.

Current national climate policies and trends would put the planet on course for around 2.6C of warming by the end of the century, the report said.

Once warming exceeds 1.5C, "there are no good outcomes", UNEP executive director Inger Andersen told journalists. Despite the expected breach, the target "is still the goal", she said.

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