"1.5°C is dead" has become the standard line, usually delivered as if the target has slipped beyond physical reach. It hasn't, quite. What's actually at stake is whether the world delivers on net zero by 2050 — and the two questions turn out to be the same question. The new CMIP7 ScenarioMIP paper includes a Very Low Emission scenario, designed to return warming below 1.5°C by the end of the century after a limited overshoot. Stripped of the technical language, it amounts to net zero by around 2050, done properly: rapid CO₂ cuts, rapid electrification, deep reductions in fossil fuel use, strong methane reductions, cuts to other non-CO₂ gases, better land use, and modest net-negative CO₂ later in the century to handle residuals. What makes this version of the scenario different from earlier 1.5°C pathways is what it does not rely on.…