The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP21 in Paris on December 12, 2015 and entered into force on November 4, 2016.
Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius , compared to pre-industrial levels.
To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate-neutral planet by mid-century.
The Paris Agreement is a milestone in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all countries together in common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
Menú de contenido
How does the Paris Agreement work?
The implementation of the Paris Agreement requires an economic and social transformation , based on the best available science. The Paris Agreement operates on a five-year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate measures carried out by countries. In 2020, countries submitted their climate action plans known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)
In their Nationally Determined Contributions (known as NDCs), countries communicate the steps they will take to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in order to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Countries also communicate in these contributions the actions they will take to build resilience and adapt to the effects of rising temperatures.https://www.youtube.com/embed/4ofqzVW0mwM?feature=oembed
Long-term strategies
To better focus efforts towards the long-term goal, the Paris Agreement invites countries to formulate and submit by 2020 long-term development strategies with low greenhouse gas emissions .
The strategies for long – term development with low emissions of greenhouse gases provide long – term horizon to certain contributions at the national level, although, unlike these, the long – term strategies are not mandatory. However, they place nationally determined contributions in the context of countries’ long-term planning and development priorities, providing a vision and direction for future development.
How do countries support each other?
The Paris Agreement provides a framework for financial, technical and capacity-building support to countries in need.
Finance
In the Paris Agreement, it reaffirms that developed countries must take the lead in providing financial assistance to the least endowed and most vulnerable countries, while encouraging other Parties to make voluntary contributions for the first time. Climate finance is necessary for mitigation, as large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions. Financing the fight against climate change is equally important for adaptation, as significant financial resources are needed to adapt to the adverse effects and reduce the effects of a changing climate.
Technology
The Paris Agreement speaks to the vision of fully carrying out development and transfer to improve resilience to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It establishes a technological framework to provide general guidance to the Technology Mechanism. The mechanism is accelerating technology development and transfer through its policy and enforcement subdivisions.
Capacity building
Not all developing countries have sufficient capacity to cope with many of the challenges posed by climate change. For this reason, the Paris Agreement places great emphasis on climate-related capacity-building in developing countries, and calls on all developed countries to increase their support for capacity-building measures for those countries. least advanced.
How are we monitoring progress?
With the Paris Agreement, countries established an enhanced transparency framework . By virtue of this, starting in 2024, countries will report transparently on the measures adopted and progress made in mitigating climate change, adaptation measures and support provided or received. International procedures are also envisaged for the examination of submitted reports.
Information gathered through the enhanced transparency framework will feed into the global balance sheet , which will assess collective progress towards long-term climate goals.
This will lead to recommendations for countries to establish more ambitious plans in the next round.
What have we achieved so far?
While climate change action needs to be greatly increased to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, the years since its entry into force have already led to low- carbon solutions and new markets . More and more countries, regions, cities and companies are setting carbon neutral targets . Zero emission solutions are becoming competitive in all economic sectors and already account for 25% of emissions. This trend is most noticeable in the energy and transportation sectors , and has created many new business opportunities for those ahead of the game.
By 2030, zero-carbon solutions could be competitive in sectors that account for more than 70% of global emissions .
