How should one evaluate the agreement reached in Paris this month at the United Nations climate change conference?
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After two weeks of intense negotiations at COP21 in Paris, a meaningful global deal on climate change is finally in place.
The Paris accord is one of those rare moments when every nation acknowledges that, for the good of all, we must act as one.
With climate change becoming more severe, the mechanics of worldwide politics were put to work.
Eamon Ryan, Green Party Leader and Co-Convenor of the Dublin Climate Gathering: added: “The COP21 agreement is a real achievement for everyone involved”.
Sounds scary? Not really. So how will we track the progress of countries towards these targets?
But what does this mean to all of us? On Dec. 14, the Monday after the Paris Climate Conference concluded, the stock was trading at $41.59. It does not, however, prescribe how much each country should reduce greenhouse gas emissions, instead allowing each nation to set its own goals and explain how it will achieve that goal.
More importantly, the universal nature of the Paris Agreement sends a strong message to multinational corporations that no matter which country they operate in, the government will enforce laws on emissions reductions.
December 12, 2015 will be remembered as the day the world declared a collective resolve to tackle the problem of climate change. The event was organised by the European Observatory of the New Human Condition at Trinity’s School of Histories and Humanities in conjunction with Climate Gathering. The rich countries fear that such “reparations” would disappear into the pockets of local elites; and they, too, are right. Aviation and shipping escaped mention.
Neither of these announcements depended on the agreement itself, demonstrating just how wide the support is for climate action. Dramatic decreases in the cost of low-carbon technologies also support an ambitious global transition toward renewable energy. Australia faces a major challenge because 75 percent of its electricity comes from coal. By placing a fee on carbon and returning the revenue to American households, we can incentivize a clean-energy economy without increasing the size of government.
Governments have ushered in a new era of global cooperation on climate change – one of the most complex issues ever to confront humanity. China is the world’s largest producer of wind energy, installing 23 GW of new wind capacity previous year. But the summit did highlight the growing power of a global movement for true climate justice. Congratulations to all the leaders who negotiated this deal and to the activists around the world fighting for this cause. The rate of decline in energy technology costs will fundamentally determine how the world actually ramps up mitigation effort. A lot – but banks, pension funds, university endowments and insurance firms are already shifting away from carbon-intensive assets and embracing cleaner energy. Above and beyond the agreement itself, Paris gave us an opportunity to focus the world’s attention on fighting climate change and reaching this goal, and numerous responses were heartening.
The agreement limits average global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial temperatures through the year 2100 and sets a further goal of limiting it to 1.5 degrees Celsuis (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Until now the line was drawn at only 2 degrees.
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Yet this remains a hard sell to a public more concerned about terrorism than about climate change. It says the Paris Agreement “does not provide detailed objectives relative to greenhouse gas emissions nor does it impose any legal obligation to limit or reduce them”. The U.S. plan is expected to take a small but palpable toll on the economy in the medium term, with less effect in the longer term. But for the pact to succeed, all nations must get to work and steadily strengthen their efforts.
