Friday marked an important occasion for world climate change – over 171 countries and over 85% of the United Nations, signed the Paris climate change agreement, highly acclaimed at the UN’s COP21 summit in December 2014. A special ceremony was held at the UN’s New York Headquarters by United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.
The agreement secures the commitment of all countries to work to limit global rising temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius as a matter of urgency, aiming for a maximum increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Paris Agreement outlines a selection of climate actions to be taken, which will support emission reduction and the building of a more resilient climate.
In order for the Paris Agreement to enter legal force, it needs a minimum endorsement from 55 countries, representing no less than 55 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Analysts at the World Resources Institute shared that with more than 171 countries signing the agreement, these represent a total of 93 percent of global emissions. Among the most welcome surprises were the addition of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters; China, India, Brazil and the US, who all signed the treaty.
Friday’s ceremony at UN Headquarters will inspire immediate global change and reaffirm the commitment in December 2015, which will add a new energetic rise in international climate efforts. The volume of first-day-signatures broke the record held by any international treaty to date.
It was conceded at the signing ceremony that despite individual commitments, the international efforts by nations will not be enough to put a halt to climate change completely, however steps can be taken to reduce the rate at which changes are happening.
While more progress is crucial in order to make significant progress, scientists have deduced that with the agreement, efforts can be implemented towards keeping the temperature increase just higher than its target of 2 degrees, remaining below a 2.7-degree rise. Results show that this should be achievable and well within reach.
Since signing, countries have formally ratified the climate change agreement. While the process began with thirteen nations, these have mainly included developing nations and island states; which so far have been most at risk from rising sea levels and direct climate change impact.
Now is the time for nations to come together and begin taking the necessary steps towards change. Petteri Taalas, WMO secretary-general, called for urgent action from the international community. “If the international community acts immediately to halt the rise in CO2 emissions, we can still hope to stabilise global warming over the coming decades. If not, the negative consequences will last for tens of thousands of years.”