Dear Readers,
The Paris Agreement or the Paris Climate Change Pact has been in the news of late and can be very important for your upcoming exams. In this article, let us take a look at the development of this agreement and its highlights.
On December 12, 2015, the Paris Agreement, touted as the “single most important collective action for addressing climate change ever agreed upon”, was adopted by 195 countries.
As per the agreement, developed as well as developing countries have resolved to take measures to tackle climate change. The 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was presided over by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, and leaders from across the world were present. From India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar attended COP21.
The most contentious issues were fair share of emission cuts and finance. It was finally decided that developed countries should take the lead by reducing emissions in absolute terms, while developing nations have been “encouraged” to carry out economy-wide emission cuts over time. In terms of finance, the Paris Agreement maintained that developed countries should provide required funds for technological transfer and capacity-building of the developing countries, which will gradually enable them to switch to renewable energy sources.
After nearly two weeks of negotiations on several contentious subjects, the final draft of the Paris Climate Change Accord was adopted on December 12, 2015.
Background
From November 30 to December 11, leaders from across the world gathered at Paris le Bourget, France, to participate in the conference and negotiate a global agreement to curb effects of climate change. The conference was deemed to be crucial as the resultant agreement would be binding on all the countries.
Highlights of the Paris Agreement
- The Paris Agreement, a 32-page document comprises 29 articles covering issues of finance, technology transfer, stocktaking and capacity-building, among others. The agreement will come into force in 2020.
- Countries have agreed to keep the global temperature from rising “well below” 2 degree Celsius and to take efforts to limit it to 1.5 degree Celsius.
- Countries also agreed to reduce dependence on fossil fuels in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Noting that developed countries have caused more pollution as they spearheaded the industrial revolution, the agreement directed them to continue to reduce emissions in absolute terms. Developing countries should continue mitigation efforts and can gradually move toward absolute cuts.
- Each country has to set national target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions every five years. So far, more than 180 countries have submitted voluntary climate action plans and emission targets for the first cycle beginning in 2020. However, the agreement has declared no penalty for countries missing targets.
- The accord states that by the second half of the century, there should be a balance between emissions from human activity (energy production, farming, etc) and the amount that can be taken in by carbon-absorbing “sinks” that include forests or carbon storage technology.
- Developed countries should help developing countries make the costly shift to clean energy through funding and technology transfer. By 2020, developed countries should jointly provide $100 billion per annum for developing countries. The accord also enables setting up of a collective quantified goal from a floor of $100 billion per year from 2025.
- The agreement recognises “loss and damage” associated with climate change-related disasters in island-nations.
Though considered to be a welcome development, the effectiveness of the Paris Agreement depends on the determination of nations to achieve the national emission cap they have set for themselves and how stringently they follow the same.
Expert Speak
The Paris Agreement has garnered mixed reactions from scientists, environmentalists and researchers from across the globe.
Sunita Narain, director general of Centre for Science and Environment, said, “On the whole, the Paris Agreement continues to be weak and unambitious, as it does not include any meaningful targets for developed countries to reduce their emissions.”Benny Peiser, director of London-based think-tank Global Warming Policy Forum, called it a “non-binding and toothless UN climate agreement”. “The Paris deal is based on a voluntary basis, which allows nations to set their own voluntary CO2 targets and policies without any legally binding caps or international oversight.”
However, some fervently stress on the pact’s advantages. Dr Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, says the objective is “remarkable”. He added, “It is a victory for the most vulnerable countries, the small islands, the least developed countries and all those with the most to lose, who came to Paris and said they didn’t want sympathy, they wanted action.”Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said, “The Paris Agreement is only one step on a long road, and there are parts of it that frustrate and disappoint me, but it is progress.”
To view or download the draft Paris Agreement, click here – http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09.pdf
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