2015 Paris Climate Accord

On December 12, 2015, the world did something remarkable. Nearly 200 nations across the seven continents came to an accord. In Le Bourget, France, the event now known as the Paris agreement was birthed. From Kiribati to Kampala, there was a loud cheer for a collective victory. Even though it fell short of what some hoped, to address the climate question of our time, it nonetheless set a tone for engagement and positive action and an indication, business as usual, would not continue.


 Key components of the Paris accord as contained in article 2 are;

• to ensure global average temperature remains below 2.0 C(3.6F) above pre-industrial times and work towards more ambitious cuts of 1.5C(2.7F) above pre-industrial times

• deploy measures to live with the present effects of climate change while adapting mechanism and measures going forward that are eco-friendly, climate resilient and which does not sacrifice food sufficiency

• provide financial support to back the adoption of green technology and climate adaptive developments

The Paris Climate accord is perhaps the most important action leaders of the world have taken, collectively, since the end of the two great wars. In the aftermath of the accord, however, critics lashed at the eventual level of compliance, citing the lack of a thoroughly binding testament to hold nations to their promises. 

The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) a non-obligatory instrument adopted by the parties at the Paris negotiation to facilitate the transit to a better future does not go far enough to tackle the enormous issues and also differs from nation to nation in terms of achievements and goals. While some countries such as Sweden have set an ambitious pathway, intending to stop the sale of fossil fueled vehicles by 2030, the US, one of the largest global polluters have already signified interest to pull out from the whole agreement. 



Snippets🔼✔
They exist a possibility albeit a slim one, that in future if we continue with the business-as-usual pathway; on fossil fuel addiction, clouds may disappear. This future without cloud was the result of modeling work done at Caltech, imagining a scenario where carbon dioxide hit three times the current levels in the atmosphere.