The Paris climate agreement

INFORMACIÓN MÁS SIMPLE PARA ENTENDERLO

What does the Paris Agreement do?
The Paris Agreement is meant to signal the beginning of the end of more than 100
years of fossil fuels serving as the primary engine of economic growth and shows that
governments from around the world take climate change seriously. The inclusion of both
developed and developing countries, including those that rely on revenue from oil and gas
production, demonstrates a unity never seen before on this issue.
The deal requires any country that ratifies it to act to stem its greenhouse gas
emissions in the coming century, with the goal of peaking greenhouse gas emissions “as soon
as possible” and continuing the reductions as the century progresses. Countries will aim to
keep global temperatures from rising more than 2°C (3.6°F) by 2100 with an ideal target of
keeping temperature rise below 1.5°C (2.7°F).
The deal will also encourage trillions of dollars of capital to be spent adapting to the
effects of climate change—including infrastructure like sea walls and programs to deal with
poor soil—and developing renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. The text of
the agreement includes a provision requiring developed countries to send $100 billion
annually to their developing counterparts beginning in 2020. That figure will be a “floor” that is
expected to increase with time.
The agreement gives countries considerable leeway in determining how to cut their
emissions but mandates that they report transparently on those efforts. Every five years
nations will be required to assess their progress towards meeting their climate commitments
and submit new plans to strengthen them.

Is the agreement binding?

The legal nature of the deal–whether it will be binding–had been a hotly debated topic
in the lead up to the negotiations. The agreement walks a fine line, binding in some elements
like reporting requirements, while leaving other aspects of the deal—such as the setting of
emissions targets for any individual country—as non-binding.

How did the negotiations work?

The Paris Agreement marks the culmination of years groundwork laid in the aftermath
of a failed attempt at achieving a previous global agreement at a 2009 climate conference in
Copenhagen. Countries settled on a bottom-up approach allowing each nation to submit its
own plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions rather than trying to agree on a one-size-fits-all
strategy, greatly simplifying the job of negotiations.
After several less-publicized meetings, negotiators from the nearly 200 countries
gathered on November 30 at a conference center in Le Bourget airport just outside Paris. A
week and a half of talks yielded a draft agreement, after which the most intense portion of the
negotiations began on Thursday. Delegates met in closed-door meetings through the night and
presidents called their counterparts in other countries. The French leaders running the
conference followed along, revising the text of the draft agreement as necessary. The final
agreement ultimately required compromises from every party.
Who were the key players in getting a deal?
France, the host country, has received near-universal praise for its handling of the
conference. The leaders of host countries in climate negotiations write the actual text of
agreement by listening to the concerns of all the countries present. By all accounts, France
deftly accounted for all those concerns allowing for passage of the deal without objection.
Leadership from the U.S., China and India also played a key role in facilitating the
agreement. All three countries have acted as road blocks in past attempts to achieve climate
deals, but in the lead up to this conference each made strong commitments to reduce their
own greenhouse gas emissions and to contribute to a positive discussion in Paris.
Vulnerable small island countries, particularly the Marshall Islands, also emerged as
the surprise power players of the conference. Representatives from countries in this group
pushed hard for negotiators to set a more ambitious climate target and largely succeeded. A
“high-ambition coalition” led by the Marshall Islands gained support from more than 100
countries, including the U.S., Brazil and members of the European Union, and their efforts
resulted in the inclusion of long-term targets and a lower “ideal” warming target.

So everyone’s happy?
Representatives from the vast majority of countries party to the agreement walked
away satisfied with the new climate deal. In a comment period following the adoption,
delegate after delegate praised the text as a generally fair-and-balanced representation of
what all countries wanted—despite significant compromises on issues like how to handle
losses and damages related to climate change.
The agreement also lived up to the demands of many environmental activists, who
were most please that the deal included a long-term emissions reduction goal, the five-year
review cycle and strong measures to ensure transparency. John Coequyt, the Sierra Club’s
director of federal and international climate campaigns, said the agreement included “all the
core elements that the environmental community wanted.”
Others criticized the deal as too weak and for not providing enough support for
developing countries. Friends of the Earth U.S. President Erich Pica said the agreement is “not
a fair, just or science-based deal” because it fails to adequately address losses due to climate
change in the most vulnerable countries. Some conservatives in the United States who
disagree with the science behind climate change also criticized the deal. (The agreement was
carefully crafted to avoid needing approval from U.S. Congress).

INFORMACIÓN MÁS ESTADÍSTICA Y ACADÉMICA

At the Paris climate conference (COP21) in December 2015, 195 countries adopted the first-
ever universal, legally binding global climate deal.
The agreement sets out a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid
dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C.

The Paris Agreement (French: L'accord de Paris) is an agreement within the framework
of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) governing carbon
dioxide reduction measures from 2020.
 The agreement was negotiated during the 21st Conference of the Parties of the
UNFCCC in Paris and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015, but has not entered into
force.

Conference head Laurent Fabius, France's foreign minister, said this "ambitious and
balanced" plan was a "historic turning point" in the goal of reducing global warming.

Key elements

The Paris Agreement is a bridge between today's policies and climate-neutrality before
the end of the century.
Mitigation: reducing emissions
Governments agreed to:

o A long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to  well below
2°C above pre-industrial levels;
o To aim to limit the increase to 1.5°C, since this would significantly reduce risks and the
impacts of climate change;
o On the need for global emissions to peak as soon as possible, recognizing that this will
take longer for developing countries;
o To undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with the best available
science.

Before and during the Paris conference, countries submitted comprehensive national

climate action plans (INDCs). These are not yet enough to keep global warming below 2°C, but
the agreement traces the way to achieving this target.

Transparency and global stocktake

Governments agreed to:

o Come together every 5 years to set more ambitious targets as required by science;
o Report to each other and the public on how well they are doing to implement their
targets;
o Track progress towards the long-term goal through a robust transparency and
accountability system.

Adaptation
Governments agreed to:

o Strengthen societies' ability to deal with the impacts of climate change;  

o Provide continued and enhanced international support for adaptation to developing
countries.  

Loss and damage

The agreement also:
o Recognizes the importance of averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage
associated with the adverse effects of climate change;
o Acknowledges the need to cooperate and enhance the understanding, action and
support in different areas such as early warning systems, emergency preparedness and
risk insurance.
 Support

o The EU and other developed countries will continue to support climate action to
reduce emissions and build resilience to climate change impacts in developing
countries.
o Other countries are encouraged to provide or continue to provide such support
voluntarily.
o Developed countries intend to continue their existing collective goal to mobilise USD
100 billion per year until 2025 when a new collective goal will be set.

Lima-Paris Action Agenda

This initiative of the Peruvian and French COP Presidencies brought countries, cities,
businesses and civil society members together to accelerate cooperative climate action in
support of the new agreement.

EU's role

The EU has been at the forefront of international efforts towards a global climate deal.
Following limited participation in the Kyoto Protocol and the lack of agreement in Copenhagen
in 2009, the EU has been building a broad coalition of developed and developing countries in
favour of high ambition that shaped the successful outcome of the Paris conference.
The EU was the first major economy to submit its intended contribution to the new agreement
in March 2015. It is already taking steps to implement its target to reduce emissions by  at least
40% by 2030.

Next steps

 The agreement will be deposited at the UN in New York and opened for signature for
one year on 22 April 2016.
 The agreement will enter into force after 55 countries that account for at least 55% of
global emissions have deposited their instruments of ratification.