Free Essay Example: Paris Climate Agreement

Since the Industrial Revolution, there has been considerable development in technology and advancement, which has had a significant impact on the environment. One such factor that has been affected is the climate, which has resulted in a climatic change. The most significant climate change effect is global warming which has impacted negatively on the environment. The emissions from factories and other gas emitters have resulted in damage of the ozone layer hence leading to global warming. The change has been of concern to most scholars and to the rest of the population, which prompted the need for mitigation mechanisms. The impact is all-round and affects not only a single state but the rest of the world as a whole. The unified result prompted the coming together of nations to enforce combined efforts to reduce emissions. The primary elements of the agreement are to limit the temperature difference by 3.6F from the pre-industrial times and to proceed further to lower the difference. The other objective is to limit greenhouse gas emissions to the level through which the natural vegetation and the water bodies can absorb naturally. The agreement also aims to review the contribution of the member states every half a decade for the development of new strategies. Finally, the rich member states have a platform in which they can contribute directly to the mitigation mechanisms for emerging countries. The main objective of the Paris Agreement is to regulate the challenge of climate change.

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Background Information

The Paris Climate Agreement is an agreement coordinated by the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change which is tasked with the control and management of greenhouse gas emission, finance, and adaptation strategies. The agreement was signed in 2016. It was signed in Paris, France, and involved members from 196 state representatives in the UNFCCC. Most states are members except for Iran and Turkey who are significant gas emitters. In the agreement, the long term goal is to control and regulate the rising temperatures to be below 2 degrees Celsius from the levels during the pre-industrial era. Further strategies aim to limit it to just 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times. The goal is expected to be achieved by minimizing the emissions within the shortest time possible. When the emissions are reduced, there can be obtained a state of balance between anthropogenic emissions and greenhouse gases. The Paris agreement aims to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and develop a resilient climate. Each country is expected to assess, organize, and plan as well as provide a regular report on their methodologies and mitigation of global warming.

Form of the Paris Agreement

The agreement was adopted as to the UNFCCC as part of the Conference of Parties(COP). The deal was built from the COP, which also had adopted decisions that guided it for the pre-2020 action. It also set the implementation details for the agreement before the actual implementation force takes over. The deal creates a workable framework for united efforts to curb climate change and global warming. Also, it is aimed to replace the Kyoto protocol. It comes out as a treaty or an international law that when the time of its effect reaches, all the member states that ratify it will be bound by. The agreement provides a framework under which the objectives are adopted. It contains the guidelines for climate action. Besides, it gives an outline of how decisions should be designed and implemented. It also has a detailed overview of how the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are to be developed and formulated. The Paris Agreement aims to provide a mechanism that both private and public entities can use to support projects whose development can be sustained for a transferable reduction in emissions.

National Action

Each member state is expected to designs, communicate, and maintain NDCs for a minimum of five years. The developed countries are to adopt economy absolute broad targets of reducing the emissions immediately and the developing partners should aim for the same, although at a more prolonged duration comparatively. Each of the states will need to surpass the previous targets for the report. The agreement provided for chronological and procedural rules for the preparation, design, and examination of the NDCs. This decision is, however, only limited to the review and not the implementation. The parties are expected to account for their NDCs so as to monitor the progress of the individual countries. The monitoring is done through an assessment of their environmental integrity. The data provided should be transparent and genuine. The data is to be further subjected to technical expert review. However, each of the parties is at liberty to change their NDCs if it means enhancing their level of ambition.

Assessment Processes

The agreement focuses on the voluntary contributions of the parties. Each of the parties is at liberty to track their level of meeting the criteria set. The transparent tracking of the progress that each of the parties has made is essential for the strengthening of the ambitions of the agreement. The agreement thus is equipped to accurately assess the individual progress of the member states as well as their progress collectively. The parties are supposed to collect and avail all the necessary information for tracking the level of development in achieving the NDCs. The data is filled in the national inventory reports. Regarding support, the developed countries are expected to avail information on financial and technology transfer that is received by the developing countries to further their agenda at the national levels. Developing countries, on the other hand, are expected to provide a report on the amount of support needed as well as that which has been received.

Adapting to Climate Change

The Paris Agreement provides a platform from which a global perspective can be taken to effect the necessary changes. It strengthens resilience and lowering the levels of vulnerability to climate change. The agreement enforces adaptation planning. Countries are thus propelled to do more to achieve these goals. The actions of these states are being supported by the agreement, thus strengthening their cooperation which also involves the transfer of funds. Most of the beneficiaries of these policies are developing countries that get means to implement the goals for containing the problem of climate change. The developing countries prefer quantitative commitments while developed states prefer qualitative commitments, although the developed countries had their way.

Finance and Technology

The platform provides developing countries with an opportunity to get resources from developed countries. There is also the transfer of technologies when parties cooperate, which leads to further growth in the capacities of the different countries towards the common goal of reducing emissions, thus control of climate change. The developed countries take the lead in the mobilization of funds to be used in the implementation of the set strategies. Most of these initiatives are done voluntarily as motivated by the agreement. However, voluntary status has stalled some of the implementation models. One such factor is the question of what should count as financial aid remains unresolved. There are also disputes on the methodologies to be used in the implementation of the strategies.

Challenges and Reasons Why It Is Not a Treaty to Everyone

There are several challenges that abound the agreement. It has received a lot of criticism ever since it was put in place. One such criticism is on the effectiveness of the Paris Agreement. There are states that have not met their targets of the NDCs. There are also general temperature changes in other countries. For instance, in India, there is a high likelihood that temperatures might rise in areas such as India and South-East Asia. In other areas such as Mississippi in the United States, if the temperatures rise, there will be a possibility of increased flood risk. There is also an absence of a binding enforcement mechanism. The agreement was approved by many and almost 200 states, however, the Paris Agreement remains in a state that can be described as being less committed and more of just “promises”. Additionally, some countries have opted to leave the agreement. One such state is the United States which has expressed concerns to move out of the Paris agreement. The Trump administration claimed that the Paris Agreement was a hoax and thus deemed it irrelevant. However, the agreement has put in place strict rules and procedures for opting out. It is a complicated set up that also takes at least four years.

Conclusion

The agreement offers a common framework through which the individual states participate in formulating and designing the NDCs in their respective capacities. All the counties contribute to their own abilities and the measures that work best for them. All this is done with a common aim while under the same target. The agreement will likely have an impact on climate change initiatives and provide the ground for further advancement. However, several critics hint that the Paris Agreement will not be able to achieve its objectives as expected.

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