Climate Action: The Paris Agreement
by Kayla Lee
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Historically, there have been numerous environmental climate actions aimed at issues regarding climate change. Examples from the past include the Montreal Protocol (1987), which focused on addressing ozone depletion, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (1992), which targeted the management of the greenhouse gas concentrations within a level. With varying degrees of success and impact, these played a role in shaping international efforts to combat climate change. The Paris Agreement was a turning point in global climate action as it includes a flexible approach and represents a collective commitment by nearly all nations.
The Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015 at the 21st Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), at Paris, France. The negotiation was signed by all 195 countries, regardless of the level of development of the country in order to emphasize that every nation has a role to play. In order to make this plan feasible, countries submit Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) outlining their individual climate action plans. The contributions include having targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to climate impacts, and providing financial and technological support to vulnerable nations.
According to the United Nations, the primary goal of the treaty is for the countries to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to hold global temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
In addition, it aims to measure and evaluate the progress towards the goal. Also, the agreement focuses on the importance of adaptation to the impacts of vulnerable communities and ecosystems. For example, countries are encouraged to reduce the vulnerability to susceptible climate-related risks. Developed countries such as the United States and China have been committed to providing financial support to developing countries to assist them in both mitigation and adaptation efforts such as improving early warning systems, enhancing infrastructure, and promoting sustainable land and water management practices using renewable energy. Large scale investments are extremely important in reducing emissions.
According to the data from the governments, the commitments still fall short to achieve zero net by 2050. Keeping global warming "well below" 2°C means that we can't let the Earth's temperature rise to more than 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels by the year 2100 or anytime after that. Instead, we need to make sure that the warming stays well below this limit for the whole 21st century, and maybe even longer. This also means that the highest temperature reached during this century needs to be significantly lower than 2°C to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. This sets a strict limit on how much the temperature can exceed the 1.5°C mark.
Increasing the temperature to 2 degrees Celsius places a larger portion of the population in danger of severe and potentially deadly extreme weather events, while also raising the chances of the Earth reaching irreversible tipping points. These tipping points could include scenarios like the disintegration of polar ice sheets and widespread coral reef die-offs.
Works Cited
“Climate Change - United Nations Sustainable Development.” United Nations, www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-change/. Accessed May 2024.
Hub, IISD’s SDG Knowledge. “2030 Emissions Must Fall 28-42% to Limit Warming to 2°C, 1.5°C: UNEP Report: News: SDG Knowledge Hub: IISD.” SDG Knowledge Hub, sdg.iisd.org/news/2030-emissions-must-fall-28-42-to-limit-warming-to-2c-1-5c-unep-report/#:~:text=The%20UN%20Environment%20Programme%20. Accessed April 2024.
“Paris Agreement on Climate.” Climate Chance, www.climate-chance.org/en/library/paris-climate-agreement/. Accessed May 2024.
“Understanding the Paris Agreement’s Long Term Temperature Goal.” Climate Analytics, climateanalytics.org/comment/understanding-the-paris-agreements-long-term-temperature-goal#:~:text=The%20Long%2DTerm%20Temperature%20Goal,should%20not%20be%20exceeded%2C%20or. Accessed April 2024.
Unfccc.Int, unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement. Accessed May 2024.
Unfccc.Int, unfccc.int/most-requested/key-aspects-of-the-paris-agreement. Accessed April 2024.
“What Is the Paris Climate Agreement?” TREE AID, www.treeaid.org/blogs-updates/paris-climate-agreement/. Accessed 01 May 2024.
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