carbon budget

plural carbon budgets

1. climatologyThe 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.

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

   2019 January 25, 4:09 from the start, in Our House is on Fire, spoken by Greta Thunberg, Davos, Graubünden, Switzerland: World Economic Forum

2. policymanagementAn 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.

   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.

   2022 August 22, Phoebe Weston, “England’s housing strategy would blow entire carbon budget, says study”, in The Guardian

3. broadlyA planning document detailing such caps and their trajectory (e.g., a university’s “2024–2028 carbon budget”).

   Synonyms: emissions budget, emissions cap