Paris Climate Deal Is Weak And Unambitious, Says CSE

For the first time, 196 countries agreed to work together to limit global warming and to stop the rise of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible.

Global church leaders have welcomed the landmark Paris climate agreement for taking into account the immediate needs of poor countries most severely affected by extreme weather, urging the push for action be sustained.

The agreement calls for the nations to reconvene in five years starting in 2023 to publicly report on their progress in meeting carbon emission targets, one of the few requirements in the agreement that purportedly is legally binding.

Reaffirm the goal of limiting global temperature increase well below 2 degrees Celsius, while urging efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees. They have concluded that, far from destroying the economy, domestic climate action produces real benefits for their citizens, including new jobs, reduced poverty, and lower mortality rates. These guidelines have been developed by more than one-hundred experts drawn from leading academic institutions, government agencies, and others with a broad knowledge of how to develop strong national greenhouse gas emissions reporting systems. “It also reflects a nuanced form of differentiation, in which all countries are encouraged to contribute to the climate effort in accordance with their capabilities”.

To erase any notion of historical responsibility, the developed countries had gone to the extent of mentioning in the text that the loss and damage due to climate change “do not involve or provide a basis for any liability or compensation”, Bhushan added.

Require parties engaging in worldwide emissions trading to avoid “double counting”. These guidelines are the same ones that are used by developed countries, such as the US Environmental Protection Agency, for the development of their national emissions inventories. He also pointed out that the principle of differentiation has been maintained in the Agreement. Paris Agreement acknowledges the development imperatives of developing countries.

There is also no penalty for countries that fail to abide by their self-imposed targets.

The treaty is scheduled to take effect in 2020 after ratification of the party states.

The UN chief recalled that reaching the deal had been a top priority of his tenure when he took over as secretary-general at the United Nations in 2007. In May, we’ll have massive demonstrations at numerous world’s biggest carbon deposits.

The treaty encountered a cold response from Republican congressional leaders.

Governments have ushered in a new era of global cooperation on climate change – one of the most complex issues ever to confront humanity. The cornerstone of the president’s pledge, the so-called Clean Power Plan regulation, would cost billions of dollars and risk thousands of jobs. Addressing a press conference here, the Minister said India’s presence was strongly felt at COP 21 and that the country’s views were heard and accounted for, in the Paris Agreement. “It is the constitutional role of Congress to appropriate all funding”. “And either it changes or President Obama and the United States will not be able to support this agreement”. He won’t, because he knows the Senate would not ratify it. A better solution is to rely on technological advances that have solved many challenges.

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.