carbon budget

Definitions

1. The maximum cumulative amount of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions compatible with a given global-warming target (e.g., 1.5 °C), for a stated probability and from a stated baseline date.
2. An emissions cap or allocation set for a period (year, multi-year, etc.) for a country, organisation, sector, or project so as to follow a target trajectory.
3. A planning document detailing such caps and their trajectory (e.g., a university’s “2024–2028 carbon budget”).
   broadly

Equivalents

Examples

“People are not aware that there is such a thing as a carbon budget, and just how incredibly small that remaining carbon budget is.”

“The building of new homes under a business-as-usual scenario … would mean⟳ the housing system would use⟳ up 104% of the country’s cumulative carbon budget by 2050.”

CEFR level