The Paris climate agreement, officially known as the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, was signed in 2015 with the aim to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The agreement has been ratified by 189 countries, including the United States, China, and India, which are the world`s top three greenhouse gas emitters. Here are the key points of the Paris climate agreement:
– Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs): Each country must submit an NDC, which outlines its plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The NDCs are updated every five years and must be more ambitious than the previous one.
– Long-term goal: The agreement aims to achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century.
– Transparency and accountability: Countries must report their emissions and progress towards their NDCs every two years, using a common reporting format. A transparency framework is in place to ensure that the information reported is accurate and comparable.
– Finance: Developed countries must provide financial resources to developing countries to help them mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The goal is to mobilize $100 billion per year by 2020 from public and private sources.
– Loss and damage: The agreement recognizes that some countries, especially small island developing states and least developed countries, are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and are already experiencing loss and damage. A mechanism is in place to address these issues.
– Technology transfer: Developed countries are to provide support to developing countries to access and develop clean technologies.
– Adaptation: Countries are to prepare and implement adaptation plans to address the impacts of climate change, including the effects of sea-level rise, droughts, and floods.
– Capacity-building: Developing countries are to receive support to build their capacity to implement the agreement effectively.
The Paris climate agreement is a significant global effort to address the complex and urgent issue of climate change. Its success depends on the commitment and actions of all countries to implement their NDCs and work together to achieve the long-term goal of a carbon-neutral, sustainable future.