There are howls of celebration all over the world at the signing of the climate deal in Paris after prolonged and tortuous negotiations. On Saturday, the global climate summit produced a landmark agreement that set the course for an historic transformation of the world’s fossil fuel-driven economy within decades in a bold bid to check global warming and to make this planet safer for future generations. The deal was agreed by 196 countries and marked the biggest ever meeting of heads of state and government, with 150 turning up for the start.
The main challenge in the fight against climate change is slashing or eliminating the use of coal, oil and gas for energy, which has largely powered prosperity since the Industrial Revolution. The burning of these fossil fuels releases invisible greenhouse gases, which cause the planet to warm and disrupt Earth’s delicate climate system causing floods, rise in temperature and all the dangers these changes bring. The alternative is a switch to cleaner sources such as solar and wind energy, and improving energy efficiency. Some nations are pursuing nuclear power which does not emit greenhouse gases.
The Paris accord sets a target of limiting warming of the planet to “well below” 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) compared with the Industrial Revolution, while aiming for an even more ambitious goal of 1.5C. Though some countries and civil society groups had wanted stronger targets, there was overwhelming support for the deal as it was a historic step. The success comes after a string of failures, including the Kyoto protocol of 1997 that was rejected by the US, and the Copenhagen summit of 2009 that ended in scenes of chaos and bitterness. What made the current deal possible was the determination of all world leaders, from US President Barack Obama to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which came from a bitter realisation that there is no alternative to a deal. The world is already witnessing the dangerous consequences of climate change, and it affects every country in the world because we inhabit the same planet.
Developing nations had insisted rich countries must take a majority share of responsibility for tackling climate change as they emitted most of the greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. This had held up progress for a long time, and finally developed countries agreed to collect at least $100bn a year from 2020 to help developing nations.
Credit also goes to France for its astute diplomacy which made this deal possible. The UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the leaders were not well-prepared for the Copenhagen meeting, and this time he and the French conducted extensive advance work to get other leaders personally engaged.
There are howls of celebration all over the world at the signing of the climate deal in Paris after prolonged and tortuous negotiations. On Saturday, the global climate summit produced a landmark agreement that set the course for an historic transformation of the world’s fossil fuel-driven economy within decades in a bold bid to check global warming and to make this planet safer for future generations. The deal was agreed by 196 countries and marked the biggest ever meeting of heads of state and government, with 150 turning up for the start.
The main challenge in the fight against climate change is slashing or eliminating the use of coal, oil and gas for energy, which has largely powered prosperity since the Industrial Revolution. The burning of these fossil fuels releases invisible greenhouse gases, which cause the planet to warm and disrupt Earth’s delicate climate system causing floods, rise in temperature and all the dangers these changes bring. The alternative is a switch to cleaner sources such as solar and wind energy, and improving energy efficiency. Some nations are pursuing nuclear power which does not emit greenhouse gases.
The Paris accord sets a target of limiting warming of the planet to “well below” 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) compared with the Industrial Revolution, while aiming for an even more ambitious goal of 1.5C. Though some countries and civil society groups had wanted stronger targets, there was overwhelming support for the deal as it was a historic step. The success comes after a string of failures, including the Kyoto protocol of 1997 that was rejected by the US, and the Copenhagen summit of 2009 that ended in scenes of chaos and bitterness. What made the current deal possible was the determination of all world leaders, from US President Barack Obama to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which came from a bitter realisation that there is no alternative to a deal. The world is already witnessing the dangerous consequences of climate change, and it affects every country in the world because we inhabit the same planet.
Developing nations had insisted rich countries must take a majority share of responsibility for tackling climate change as they emitted most of the greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. This had held up progress for a long time, and finally developed countries agreed to collect at least $100bn a year from 2020 to help developing nations.
Credit also goes to France for its astute diplomacy which made this deal possible. The UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the leaders were not well-prepared for the Copenhagen meeting, and this time he and the French conducted extensive advance work to get other leaders personally engaged.
