Two Degrees Climate Target: Hell or Hallelujah

In 1996 the European Union and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted the 2°C climate target to prevent dangerous climate change and to limit the rise in global mean temperature to 2°C above the preindustrial level. If this is possible to accomplish, with increasing emission of greenhouse gases, is hard to tell. There are today many uncertainties within the connections between the emission of greenhouse gases, the concentration of them in the atmosphere and the expected increase in temperature. In this report the 2°C climate target is reviewed. By studying the available knowledge, the origin of the target and what might happen if temperature should rise with 2°C, an image filled with uncertainties, ambiguous definitions and moral dilemmas, revealed itself. This image indicated the complexity of the situation and the difficulties in formulating a climate target. After investigating different perspectives and possibilities a conclusion could be drawn, that the 2°C climate target is perhaps not the ultimate target but it is better than no target at all