According to a new study published in the scientific journal Nature, most of the Earth's fossil fuels will have to be left in the ground if the world is to avoid catastrophic climate change. The results suggest that a third of oil reserves, half of gas reserves, and over 80 per cent of current coal reserves should remain unused from 2010 to 2050 in order to meet the 2 °C target to minimize climate change impacts. Policy makers’ instincts to rapidly exploit fossil fuels are inconsistent with their commitments to this temperature limit.

SOURCE: McGlade & Ekins, 2015, The geographical distribution of fossil fuels unused when limiting global warming to 2 °C