How is Paris Agreement changing the Environment in good?

Climate change is a global issue that is frightening people in all parts of the world. The concepts like ‘Greenhouse Effects’ and ‘Global Warming’ have been discussed on all the world-level forums and efforts are being made to counter them. As the root cause of these changes is pollution, most of the emphasis comes down to the point of controlling it as much as we possibly can. The stance of all the nations is pretty much the same on this issue as this calamity is faced not by the people of any religion, or region but by the entire human race. As a result, a lot of collective efforts are being made to ensure that the rate of climate change is controlled to a sustainable level.

The Paris Climate Agreement is probably the biggest forum on which all the nations of the world were gathered against this common enemy. Syria and Nicaragua were the only countries which refused to be a part of it. The purpose of this framework was to spread awareness in the world about the catastrophes that could emerge if this problem is not solved on an urgent basis. This agreement was reached on 12^th December 2015 after tense negotiations. It is quite a lengthy agreement of about 31 pages but the major points it covers are as follows.

·         Not more than 2 Degrees

This is the most important goal and that’s the reason why it was called the ‘Backbone’ of the agreement. According to this clause, a global target of keeping global average temperatures from rising 2^oC by the end of this century was to be met. The effects of more than 2 degrees rise in temperature can be devastating as the world will turn into a hostile place for human survival. Some of these effects are higher seas, the crisis of water and food, and changes in weather cycles.

·         Rich should Help the Poor

The number of harmful emissions varies from one place of the world to another. The developed countries are shifting to renewable forms of energy that are much safer for our environment. As a result, the rate of emission is lower in those parts of the world. On the other hand, developing or third-world countries have to rely on the combustion of fossil fuels in order to meet their energy requirements. Due to lack of financial resources and economic instability, they cannot afford to shift their systems as it requires heavy investment.

An interesting thing in this regard is that all the rich countries have utilized their non-renewable resources to become what they are these days. These countries are now condemning the use of the same resources. This is a two-way sword for poor nations as they will be the first to bear the impacts of climatic change.

According to this agreement, richer countries will provide aid to smaller nations so that they could develop infrastructure for renewable energy.

·         Contributions and Ambitions

All the countries taking part in this conference explained their national action plans for tackling pollution to ensure that climatic change could be minimized. In light of all these briefings, certain targets were set that will be achieved through a global effort in the coming years. Governments from different parts of the world also agreed that they will communicate every 5 years to analyze the progress they made. New and more ambitious targets will also be set in those meetings so that the rate of good work could be enhanced.

·         No Details, Rules or, Punishments

Another thing on which the participating countries agreed was that they will report about their implementation details to the other members and the public. They will also explain their progress with respect to the targets that were set initially. This will provide transparency to the entire process. However, there is nothing against the country who fails to achieve the given task. Similarly, this accord mentions that all the countries should strive to reach their peak emissions as soon as possible but no explanation is provided on how to achieve this feat. The idea behind this is to create a culture of accountability where countries judge themselves on their own. They must work for the betterment of climate without the pressure of a punishment.