06-11-2020 | 17:30 PM
Paris Climate Agreement
The US has become the first nation in the world to formally withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement.
The US President Trump announced the move in June 2017, but UN regulations meant that his decision only takes effect the day after the US election.
The Paris deal was drafted in 2015 to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change. It aims to keep the global temperature rise this century well below 2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degree Celsius.
About Paris Climate Agreement
At COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015, Parties to the UNFCCC reached a landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future.
The agreement also aims to increase the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change, and at making finance flows consistent with a low GHG emissions and climate-resilient pathway.
The Paris Agreement requires all Parties to put forward their best efforts through “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. This includes requirements that all Parties report regularly on their emissions and on their implementation efforts.
There will also be a global stock-take every 5 years to assess the collective progress towards achieving the purpose of the agreement and to inform further individual actions by Parties.
The Paris Agreement opened for signature on 22 April 2016 – Earth Day – at UN Headquarters in New York.
It entered into force on 4 November 2016, 30 days after the so-called “double threshold” (ratification by 55 countries that account for at least 55% of global emissions) had been met.
