The Paris Agreement: The pledge to tackle climate change

With climate change at the forefront of global concern, revised and emerging sustainability initiatives to tackle the ongoing damage to our environment are ruling the landscape. One such initiative is the Paris Agreement.

What is the Paris Agreement?

The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) focused on reducing or diminishing the impacts of climate change across the globe. It acts as an international legal agreement between many States who have pledged a global effort to combat the effects of climate change and mitigate its causes.  

It was negotiated by 196 parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016. There are currently 195 parties to the Paris Agreement.
 

What is the main goal?

The primary goal of the Paris Agreement is to hold the increase in the global average temperature of the planet to well below 2°C and pursue further efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The new focus on limiting global warming to 1.5°C is not without difficulty, with the seemingly ever-lasting plethora of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continuing to increase the planet’s temperature.
 

Why is it important?

The Paris Agreement supports a vital need for change on a planet that’s slowly being destroyed by GHG emissions that are increasing the planet’s temperature. Reports and findings from leading climate organizations, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations, emphasize the dangerous position the future of the planet currently holds.
 

IPCC report

In March 2023, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published the Synthesis Report of the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), compiling the findings of 93 authors on climate change. The report emphasizes how close we are to irreversible damage and details the following conclusions: 

• We’re causing unprecedented global warming — human-induced global warming of 1.1°C has resulted in climate changes that are unprecedented in recent history 

• More finance is needed to adapt— developing countries will need USD 127 billion per year by 2030 and USD 295 billion per year by 2050 for climate change adaptations 

• There’s a high likelihood things will get worse — there’s more than a 50% chance global temperatures will reach or surpass 1.5°C between 2021 and 2040 

• Urgent implementations are needed — the IPCC urgently calls for systemwide transformations for a net zero, climate resilient future. The World Resources Institute (WRI) mentions retire coal plants, invest in clean energy, decarbonize buildings, decarbonize cement and plastics, shift to electric vehicles, increase public transport and walking, decarbonize aviation and shipping, halt deforestation and restore degraded lands, reduce food waste, improve agricultural practices, eat more plants and less meat 

• Carbon removal is essential —carbon dioxide (CO2) removal will be necessary to achieve net negative CO2 emissions as limiting human-induced global warming requires net zero CO2 emissions  

These findings alone exhibit how important it is that countries work together to mitigate climate change while adapting to its effects.
 

United Nations

Further, the UN details how daily human activity is leading to devastating climate effects.  

• Increased temperatures — greenhouse gases increase the global surface temperature of the planet, which has been warmer each decade since 1980. Higher temperatures lead to wildfires and melting sea ice 

• Increased sea levels — a warming ocean is a rising one, as water expands when it gets warmer. Melting ice sheets also add to the levels, threatening coastal communities. Increased carbon dioxide acidifies the ocean, corrupting marine life 

• Loss of biodiversity — as temperatures change, species who rely on consistent water levels and temperatures may perish. Other animals are at risk of extinction from forest fires, extreme weather patterns, and invasive diseases 

• Loss of food resources — losing species could cost humans their usual food sources, such as fish. Crops and other livestock may also be at risk of decline due to increased temperatures and difficulty in maintaining plant life 

• Severe weather patterns — increased droughts and more severe storms are both threats of climate change, as more rainfall and floods permeate one part of the planet, causing tropical storms, cyclones, and hurricanes, while water scarcity affects another 

• Risks to human health — human health is harmed through air pollution, disease, extreme weather events like flooding, increased hunger, and poor nutrition. Each year, environmental factors kill approximately 13 million people  

As evidenced, the causes and subsequent impacts of climate change will be devastating, resulting in thousands of losses to both human, plant, and animal life. But how are climate initiatives like the Paris Agreement aiming to avoid this fate?

How does the Paris Agreement aim to combat climate change?

The Paris Agreement relies on the pledged countries following a five-year cycle of meeting climate action ambitions, dictated through climate action plans known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), implementing long-term strategies, and global collaboration. 

What are Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)?

NDCs are climate action plans that each of the 195 countries continuously review to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. The primary focus of these NDCs is to map out how that country will reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate changes by communicating the actionable steps they plan to implement and undertake as a nation. 

The Climate Action Tracker tracks the progress of each country’s NDC. As of the writing of this article, the EU, United Kingdom, and United States are all marked as “Insufficient” in meeting their goals. No country has been deemed successful in reaching the 1.5°C ambition, but the following countries, marked as “Almost Sufficient”, are currently the closest: 

• Bhutan 

• Costa Rica 

• Ethiopia 

• Kenya 

• Morocco 

• Nepal 

• Nigeria 

• Norway 

• The Gambia 

On the other side of the spectrum, countries like Argentina, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudia Arabia, Singapore, and Thailand are “Critically Insufficient” in their climate change goals.

Long-term strategies

To shape the efforts of individual countries, the Paris Agreement encourages the production of long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies (LT-LEDS), which work conjunctively with NDCs.  

Unlike NDCs, these aren’t mandatory, but are helpful in situating a country’s long-term plans and priorities. Companies can access countries that have submitted the long-term strategies online. 

Global support

In understanding the inequality of countries around the world, the Paris Agreement provides a framework for financial, technical, and capacity building support to countries who may need more assistance.  

• Developed countries should provide financial assistance to less developed countries 

• Technology development should be utilized to improve resilience to climate change impacts 

• Emphasis on climate-related capacity-building for developing countries with support from developed countries 

These strategies highlight the cruciality of countries working together to tackle climate change and reach the environmental goals laid out by the Agreement.  

What happens next?

The COP28 UN Climate Change Conference, which occurred in Dubai from 30 November to 13 December 2023, marked the conclusion of the first global stocktake of worldwide efforts to address climate change under the Paris Agreement.  

After identifying that global progress was too slow, countries decided how to accelerate efforts in reducing GHG emissions, strengthening resilience, and supporting developing countries with finance and technology by 2030.  

Here’s a summary of the adoptions in COP28:

Ending fossil fuel use

In an effort to keep the global temperature limit of 1.5°C, countries recognize the need to implement stronger climate action plans to cut GHG emissions by 43% by 2030 as science indicates. The global stocktake calls on countries to triple their renewable energy capacity, double energy efficiency, phase down unabated coal power, phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, and develop stronger NDCs by February 2025. 

New funding 

A new dedicated fund under the UNFCCC aims to address loss and damage with an offering of more than USD 600 million. The fund is mainly to support vulnerable countries suffering from climate change. 

Meanwhile, further funding was added to the Green Climate Fund, Least Developed Countries Fund, Special Climate Change Fund, and the Adaptation Fund.  

Strengthen resilience

All Parties agreed on targets for the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) — a framework which maps how countries will develop resilience to impacts of climate change. The GGA covers adaptation progress for water, food, health, ecosystems, infrastructure, poverty, and cultural heritage.  

Climate change actions

The Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) establishes a tool to implement the Paris Agreement. The final version of the reporting tools, developed by the UN Climate Change, were shared to countries in June 2024.  

It was also decided that COP29 will be held in Azerbaijan in November 2024, and COP30 in Brazil in November 2025. At COP29, countries must establish a new climate finance goal, and at COP30, it will be expected that countries come with new NDCs developed.