The Five Key Decisions Made in the UN Climate Deal in Paris

Climate finance to pay for developing countries to shift to low-carbon energy, and compensation for the effects of climate change, which was historically caused by developed nations, was a major sticking point. The world hoped for an agreement, but most of us did not dare to dream of a deal that aspires to limit temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. It does not, however, prescribe how much each country should reduce greenhouse gas emissions, instead allowing each nation to set its own goals and explain how it will achieve that goal.

With climate change becoming more severe, the mechanics of worldwide politics were put to work.

Now, with the Paris Agreement in place, our thoughts must immediately turn to implementation.

Incidentally, even if the US$100 billion a year fund was achieved, access to it by small states in the Caribbean would be long and arduous, particularly is the criterion of “per capita” income continues to be applied as it is now by global financial institutions.

Britain’s leading business lobby group said the deal reached in Paris represents an “exciting opportunity” for its members but that the British government needs to demonstrate its comment to the goals outlined in the agreement. The Paris Agreement has been recognized, both by environmental activists and hesitant business lobbyists, as a big step forward. The climate change deniers, doubters and agnostics have been left intellectually marooned and the worst fossil fuel lobbyists have been left morally exposed.

There will be a global “stock take” in 2023, and every five years thereafter, to assess progress towards the aims of the agreement. This will hopefully end fossil fuels, which will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, and transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050.

Supporting policies: Climate treaties have generally been silent on explicit policy proposals.

“India is happy with the outcome of the COP-21 in Paris”. After more than a decade of futile effort, 195 nations agreed to a plan that will limit climate change. Developed countries have agreed to lead in mobilizing finance and to scale up technology support and capacity building.

I have participated in every United Nations climate conference.

Sometimes, in the midst of all the politicians, negotiators and, yes, media, we forget that the whole reason that world leaders gathered at COP21 in Paris is due to, well, science.

Talks for establishing a post-Kyoto Protocol framework were plagued for years by sharp divisions between developing countries, which held the advanced economies chiefly responsible for global warming, and industrialized nations, which contended that emerging powers such as China with their growing share of the global economy as well as emissions should also bear the obligation to fight climate change.

We should remain attentive to assure that these private and public/private initiatives do not yield a future in which green tycoons control the commanding heights of the next generation of large-scale technological systems: think Henry Ford and cars, Carnegie and steel, John D Rockefeller and oil. “It creates the mechanism, the architecture, for us to continually tackle this problem in an effective way”. This should be taken as another indicator of the loopholes built into the agreement. The publicity surrounding the periodic updates of national commitments will be closely scrutinized by NGOs and domestic audiences. The emotional ups and downs this year have been great – beginning with unparalleled optimism after the approval of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, the release of the Pope’s Encyclical, and the U.N. Climate Summit in September. The pressure on governments from the worldwide community and from civil society provides whipsaw dynamics to increase commitments to further cut emissions.