The Paris Climate Agreement Definition: What You Need to Know
The Paris Climate Agreement is a landmark international agreement among countries to combat climate change, adopted in December 2015 and officially entered into force on November 4, 2016. It aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This is critical to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather events, sea level rise, and food insecurity.
The agreement requires all parties to submit their own Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which outline their individual targets and actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. These NDCs are updated every five years, with the first cycle starting in 2020.
The Paris Agreement also establishes a transparency and accountability framework to track progress towards these targets, and provides financial and technological support to developing countries to assist them in implementing climate actions.
The agreement has been hailed as a historic achievement, with 197 countries signing on to the accord. However, there have been concerns about the lack of enforcement mechanisms and the voluntary nature of the NDCs. The United States, under President Donald Trump, announced its intention to withdraw from the agreement in 2017, but officially left only on November 4, 2020, the day after the U.S. presidential election.
Despite this setback, the Paris Agreement remains a critical tool in the global fight against climate change, and many nations, businesses, and individuals continue to push for ambitious climate action. The upcoming COP26 (Conference of the Parties) in Glasgow, Scotland in November 2021 is expected to be a key moment for countries to announce updated NDCs and commit to more ambitious climate targets, in line with the latest science on climate change.
