Agreement to Limit Global Warming

President Trump is pulling us out of the Paris Climate Agreement. While these are not the long-term sustained temperatures targeted by the agreement, average temperatures in the first half of 2016 were about 1.3°C (2.3°F) above the 1880 average when global records began. [26] INDCs become NDCs – Nationally Determined Contributions – once a country formally accedes to the agreement. There are no specific requirements on how countries should reduce their emissions or to what extent, but there have been political expectations regarding the nature and severity of the targets set by different countries. As a result, national plans vary considerably in scope and ambition, largely reflecting each country`s capacities, level of development and contribution to emissions over time. China, for example, has pledged to reduce its CO2 emissions by 2030 at the latest and to reduce CO2 emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 60 to 65 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. India has set a target of reducing emissions intensity by 33-35% from 2005 levels by 2030 and producing 40% of its electricity from non-fossil sources. Countries set their own targets, and there are no enforcement mechanisms in place to ensure they achieve them. Among other requirements, countries must report on their greenhouse gas inventories and progress towards their targets so that external experts can assess their success.

Countries should also reconsider their commitments by 2020 and present new targets every five years to further reduce their emissions. They must participate in a “global stocktaking” to measure collective efforts to achieve the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement. In the meantime, developed countries must also estimate the amount of financial assistance they will provide to developing countries to help them reduce their emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change. The IPCC notes that climate change is limited only by “significant and sustainable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.” While one can debate the benefits of using a single global temperature threshold to represent dangerous climate change, the general scientific opinion is that any increase in global temperatures of more than 2 degrees Celsius would pose an unacceptable risk – potentially leading to mass extinctions, more severe droughts and hurricanes, and an aqueous Arctic. As the IPCC notes, while it remains uncertain about the extent of global warming that will trigger “abrupt and irreversible changes” in Earth`s systems, the risk of crossing the threshold only increases as temperatures rise. Commitments made so far could raise global temperatures by up to 2.7°C, but the agreement sets out a roadmap to accelerate progress. Adaptation issues were further highlighted in the drafting of the Paris Agreement. Collective long-term adaptation objectives are included in the agreement and countries must report on their adaptation measures, making adaptation a parallel element of the mitigation agreement. [46] Adaptation objectives focus on improving adaptive capacity, increasing resilience and limiting vulnerability. [47] At the end of COP 21 (21. Meeting of the Conference of the Parties presiding over the Conference) on 12 December 2015, the final text of the Paris Agreement was adopted by mutual agreement between all 195 States participating in the UNFCCC and the European Union[4] in order to reduce emissions according to the greenhouse gas emission reduction approach. .