Climate Change Agreement Reached In Paris

Canada, United States And All Other Nations Sign Agreement To Keep Global Warming Below 1.5 Degrees Celsius

From Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

News of the signing of an international climate change agreement just came out of Paris around 8 a.m. our time on this Saturday, December 12^th, and everyone interested is still scrambling to review to digest it and determine its implications.

Shoes from around the world in Paris to press for a solid climate agreement

Niagara At Large will have much in the way of analysis on this deal, at least parts of which (for the first time for a global climate change pact) are legally binding.

For now, we leave you with a link to the draft agreement and a list of a few of the key features of it.

Click on the following link to read the draft agreement –http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/da01.pdf . 

Here are some key points from the draft:

1. As expected, the agreement commits the world to limiting warming to well below 2C but to try to keep it below 1.5C.
2. Countries will be requested to revisit their existing pledges for emission cuts by 2020, and every five years thereafter.
3. On the thorny issue of money, the legally-binding part of the agreement requires that developed countries (as defined in 1992) shall continue to provide finance to developing countries to help them adapt to climate change and cut their emissions. The most contentious part – how much money – is in the non-legally binding ‘decision text’. Currently, developed countries are obliged to ‘mobilise’ $100bn a year of public and private finance to help developing countries by 2020. The decision says they “intend to continue their existing collective mobilization goal through 2025” and then by 2025 set a new goal “from a floor of $100 billion”.

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