ABSTRACT
Stabilization targets represent maximum mean global temperatures or greenhouse gas concentrations that the global community aims not to exceed. The principal objective of stabilization targets is to ensure that climate change is constrained to manageable levels. To date, no internationally agreed stabilization target has been formally adopted, but a range of potential targets have been proposed. Limits to temperature or concentration increases are also being considered in discussions concerning the successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol (which expires in 2012). For example, the European Union has adopted a target of stabilizing global mean temperatures increase at 2ºC or less.
