Paris Agreement enters into force

•  The Paris Agreement pdf-icon entered into force on 4 November 2016, thirty days after the date on which at least 55 Parties to the Convention accounting in total for at least an estimated 55 % of the total global greenhouse gas emissions have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the Depositary.
• India ratified the Paris Agreement on 2nd October 2016, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and the Agreement has the support of majority of the countries.
• Till date, 94 Parties have ratified it, of the 197 Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

About Paris Pact:

• Despite the strong objection by developed countries, the UNFCCC principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities incorporated into the Paris Agreement to provide developing countries a cushion.
• The agreement binds together pledges by individual nations to cut or limit emissions from fossil-fuel burning, within a framework of rules that provide for monitoring and verification as well as financial and technical assistance for developing countries
• The main goal is to bring down pollution levels so that the rise in global temperatures is limited to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial averages.
• This agreement also expressed an ambition to restrict the temperature increase even further, to 1.5 degrees C, if possible.
• The deal also requires developed nations to continue to provide funding to help poorer countries cut their carbon emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change – but does not set a legally binding level of money.
• This non-binding agreement requires developed countries to continue a goal of “mobilizing” $100?billion of public and private finance for developing countries each year after 2020. It also calls on them to pledge a higher sum by 2025.
• Financing had been a stumbling block throughout the talks. Developing nations had demanded legally binding commitments for developed nations to give more cash. Earlier drafts had proposed such a deal but this was scrapped after the US made clear it would never ratify such an agreement.
• In 2018, nations will hold a “facilitative conference” to revisit some of the emissions reductions ideas. If it is ratified by more than 55 percent of nations or nations that cause 55 percent of global emissions, Paris will enter into force two years later, in 2020.
• Then, in 2023, the world will meet again for a “global stock take,” where countries are supposed to announce new and improved emission-reduction plans. Rich countries may also announce more monetary help for poor ones at these events. And every five years after that, indefinitely, the world will meet again to discuss its renewed plans to decarbonizes.
• These are the two milestones in the international climate agenda: 2018 and 2023. In between now and then, the economic trends of investment and divestment and fossil-fuel burning and solar printing will churn and fluctuate, but the international community will observe them most at those two sessions

By: Vishal