The Paris Climate Change Agreement

 The Paris Agreement is a climate change treaty that was signed in Le Bourget, Paris, France by 197 countries on 12th December 2015. It is one of the most widely subscribed to international agreements having near universal acceptance. It succeeds the Kyoto Protocol and is to ‘govern’ from 2020 onwards.

The Agreement is based on the parent treaty of the UN Climate Change Convention, which is the basis for all international laws about climate change. The fact that climate change is a global challenge is what informs international cooperation on the issue because emissions anywhere affects life everywhere. Therefore, for action taken to be successful, all parties must be involved and everybody’s voice heard.

This agreement, which tries to be holistic, looks at all aspects of climate change and involves all stakeholders. It is different from the previous one because it involves the participation of both developed and developing countries in mitigation (cutting emissions) and is ‘bottom-up’ not top down. It aims for inclusivity.

The main target is the reduction of emissions in order to avoid a rise in temperatures and major disruptions of the climate system. Therefore, its primary goal is to ‘keep warming this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels’ and put all effort into reining it to 1.5 degrees Celsius which is even better. This are the temperature goals of the agreement. Found in article 2, they are its principal aim.

As per the IPCC, the planet has already warmed 1.1 degrees above 1850 (preindustrial levels) and so only 0.4 degrees is left for the first cap. Accordingly, there’s a small remaining carbon budget accounting for the emissions that will cause the planet to reach the lower threshold.

The other just as important goals are adaptation to climate change and fostering climate resilient development. Adaptation (article 7) is necessary because the impacts of climate change are already here with us. Action and support is needed for communities, the natural world, infrastructure and the economy in order to better maneuver and adjust to higher temperatures and related impacts. Deliberations on the global goal for adaptation (GGA) are ongoing in 2022.

Climate resilience is important for nations and communities globally, but especially the most vulnerable, because all need to have the capacities and capabilities to come away with minimal damage from climate events and shocks. Included is the knowhow on how to rebound. We need to create systems that can absorb and reduce damage from climate shocks.

The third goal is reducing emissions from agriculture without negatively affecting food production. Agriculture and food systems combined are responsible for about a third of greenhouse gas emissions. However, agriculture is an extremely crucial sector worldwide, both for food security and economic reasons. This is especially the case in light of a growing world population, which then calls for innovation and sustainable utilization of natural resources while minimizing losses from agrifood systems.

Agriculture is already experiencing the impacts of climate change, which is the reason for climate smart agriculture.

Article 4 which is the fundamental aim, covers cutting emissions that cause global warming and is encapsulated within a document known as nationally determined contributions (NDC). NDCs are essentially climate plans which document each signatory party’s intentions to cut emission in its jurisdiction. NDCs by developed countries are absolute and economy wide, which means they capture efforts in every economic sector. For developing nations, NDCs show intentions to cut emissions with the view of making them economy wide in the future. This is because for developing countries economic growth remains a top priority first. NDCs must be submitted to the secretariat every five years by each country and are to be ambitious – showing highest possible ambition. They are also progressive – they must show incremental progress from previous versions. Therefore each submission must be stronger than the one five years prior. These documents cover mitigation efforts over a span of 10 years.

Through article 9, the agreement recognizes that mitigation and adaptation are not possible without financial resources and so encourages Western nations, who are historically responsible for climate change, to marshal resources to support the global south in cutting emissions and dealing with the worst impacts of climate change. The Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund both under the financial mechanism, serve this purpose.

This goal is 100 billion USD per year until 2020 which was set by COP 15 in Copenhagen 2009 but is still to be realized. Parties agreed that deliberations would start on a new goal for 2025 and onwards.

Countries also need to align their long term emission reduction targets on a path to climate neutrality by 2050. This means that globally, greenhouse gas emissions need to peak quickly and thereafter start falling. This would mean that the quantities of emissions released into the air equal the exact amount absorbed or removed from the atmosphere. This is what is referred to as net zero or climate neutrality. Most commonly ‘carbon neutrality’ is used because carbon dioxide is the chief greenhouse gas. In the last half of the century, if possible, removals can surpass emissions, this referred to as ‘net negative.’

Protection and enhancement of sinks and reservoirs is covered by article 5. This is because of their important role in not only capturing emissions and safely storing them away, but also because they buffer or protect against the harshest impacts of climate change. For example robust forests absorb excess water from heavy precipitation thus lessening damage from flash floods and also absorb carbon dioxide at the same time. This is what is referred to as nature based solutions or ecosystem based adaptation.

Interconnected with this are the rights of local communities and indigenous peoples, who are in constant touch with nature and are the primary guardians of the environment. Rightfully, the voices and contributions of these groups should be taken into account under the agreement in order for it to be successful. Climate action cannot succeed without the support of the ordinary people on the ground.

Article 10 and 11 look at the important role of technology and capacity building. Building technical capacity to deal with climate change and technological innovations and transfer will be important to reach the goals set out in 2015. For example, developments in renewable energy and negative emission technologies, clean cooking fuel, early warning systems and better climate modelling systems are some of the ways technological inventions would help reduce emissions and alleviate the worst impacts of climate change.

Global stocktaking (article 14) is a process that is meant to inform the world on collective progress on attaining the goals of the agreement especially those related to emissions and temperature thresholds. The global stock take also shows us the path we are on. Indicatively, its results will form the new basis for carbon reduction targets in the NDCs. The first such process will take place next year in 2023 and every five years thereafter.

Local knowledge and traditional knowledge are acknowledged as being of great value to the climate fight. Therefore inclusion of these knowledge systems alongside scientific research is recommended.

Transparency and compliance issues are included in article 13 and 15. Parties are expected to clearly indicate their emissions and implementation of mitigation actions i.e. the NDC showing information on emissions and biennial (update) reports showing implementation of the NDCs. Additionally, there are technical expert reviews of several documents. In an effort to promote transparency of climate action, different types of documents including NDCs and various reports are kept in publicly accessible registries and websites.

Part of the charter of the founding UNFCCC agreement outlines the need to protect future generations from climate change and leave behind a livable world for them. This is known as intergenerational equity which lays the basis for the strong and sustained push for the voices of the world’s youth, especially from the Global South to be heard. Young people argue and rightly so, that they are some of the chief stakeholders in climate action. Truthfully, the decisions being made today by politicians and governments worldwide will determine and impact the course of generations of people who have not yet been born.

The above is part of the reason the agreement notes the pertinent issue of climate justice, which argues that climate change is a matter of human rights. Rightly so, because those least responsible for climate change are the most affected. Women, Small Island states, the African continent, people of color, indigenous groups and youth in their various capacities have contributed the least to climate change yet are at the frontlines of its impacts. Therefore fairness and equity should be interwoven in all the processes and actions under the PA with the welfare and inclusion of these groups at the centre.

Gender considerations are noted as crucial in the agreement. Women and girls experience climate change impacts but in a completely different manner from their male counterparts. Some of the impacts of climate change lower the economic status of the female gender, increase gender inequality and have other negative socioeconomic impacts.  Women and girls offer inspired, inclusive and empathetic leadership and so deserve a good and fair seat throughout all levels; from decision making to action.

 Loss and damage is a weighty issue that has rapidly gained momentum and which needs to be addressed expeditiously and effectively. It refers to the irreversible and serious losses and damages from climate change. It can be loss of harvests due to droughts or locusts, damage to infrastructure from floods, loss of territory to sea level rise or effect on human health from heat waves, waterborne diseases or food insecurity. Addressed by article 8, the goal is to avert, minimize and address this issue through understanding, action and support.

A just transition refers to the fair shifting of the world from carbon intensive to a low carbon development pathway. It is aimed at leaving no one behind. Its purpose is to absorb and integrate everyone in the ‘green revolution’ and so ensure the continued health and prosperity of nations and communities.

Article 6 covers the use of market and non-market approaches to address climate change. The first refers to carbon markets which are emission trading schemes for the sale and transfer of mitigation outcomes from one national entity to another.

This is meant to increase the flow of climate finance but should not be an excuse to not cut individual national emissions. Carbon markets are regulated by the principles of ‘robust accounting’, environmental integrity and transparency.

Article 12 highlights the importance of climate change education, training and awareness, public participation and public access to information regarding climate change.

As a whole document, the goals of the Paris agreement are interconnected, hence their integrated pursuit will yield long lasting and more concrete results.

The Paris Agreement was opened for signature on 22 April 2016 up to 21 April 2017.  It entered into force 3 years before the intended date, on November 4 2016, 30 days after 55 countries representing 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions ratified or adopted it. This included the U.S.A, China and the European Union, who account for the most significant share of emissions. 

In 2021, the U.S.A signaled its intention to move forward with the rest of the world in fighting climate change by rejoining the agreement after having dropped out in 2020.

In November 2021, the world signed the Glasgow Pact, which would flesh out the agreement in terms of putting it to work.

As of November 2022, the Paris Agreement had been ratified by 194 parties and signed by 195 who then deposited their instruments at the secretary general office in New York.