Two-thirds of the world's fossil-fuel reserves must remain unburnt to hold temperature increases below dangerous levels, according to researchers at University College London.
Half the world's known gas reserves, one-third of the oil and 80 percent of the coal should remain in the ground and unused before 2050 to limit temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius, the maximum climate scientists say is advisable, according to a report from the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources.
"Policy makers must realize that their instincts to completely use the fossil fuels within their countries are wholly incompatible with their commitments to the 2 degrees Celsius goal," UCL research associate and lead author Christophe McGlade said in the report, which was published recently in the scientific journal Nature.