China and US ratifies Paris Climate Change Agreement

China and US ratify Paris Climate Change Agreement

China and the US, the two largest emitter of carbon dioxide, ratified the Paris Climate Change Agreement on September 3, 2016. Both the countries ratified the Paris Agreement just ahead of the annual G-20 Leaders Summit that began in Huangzhou in China.

China and the US, ratifying the Paris Agreement show that the global community can come together to address the threat of climate change. Both the countries are transforming their economies to grow through clean energy rather than fossil fuels, so their citizens can benefit from a cleaner environment and be competitive in the green economy.

The Paris agreement will take effect 30 days after the date when 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of global emissions have formally joined it. The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change says the U.S. and China joining up brings the total so far to just over 39 percent.

Paris Agreement

Paris Agreement is an agreement within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which deals with greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance starting in 2020.  It was adopted by consensus on December 12, 2015.  It was opened for signature on April 22, 2016, which is marked as Earth Day. Till date, 180 countries have signed the agreement.

Countries that ratify the deal will have to wait for three years after it has gone into legal force before they can begin the process of withdrawing from it, according to the agreement signed in Paris last year.

Primary Objective of Paris Agreement

As stated in the agreement, the primary objectives of the convention are as follows -  

• Limiting the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to act on efforts to control the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Doing this would critically bring down the risks and impacts of climate change;
• Enhancing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development, in a manner that does not jeopardize food production;
• Making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.

Key Elements of Paris Agreement

• National pledges to cut down emissions: Many countries have submitted “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” (INDCs), describing their plan to minimise their emissions in the 2020s. The United States is responsible for 17.9 per cent while China covers 20 per cent of global emissions. Russia accounts for 7.5 per cent. Among these, India is pushing out just 4.1 per cent as it stated on April 22, 2016.
• Financial Aid: The agreement states that developed nations will assist developing nations with the costs of going green, and the costs of coping with the effects of climate change.
• A long-term goal: A feasible target for global emissions reductions required by 2050 or 2100 is maintained, to prevent 2 degree Celsius global warming.
• Holding countries to account: A crystal clear framework is designed for measuring whether countries are actually carrying out the emissions cuts they have stated.
• Increasing pledges in future: A mechanism to make countries come back and agree to deeper national emissions cuts.

Kyoto Protocol

Another such treaty under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was Kyoto Protocol which was signed on December 11, 1997, in Kyoto, Japan. It was entered into force on 16 February 2005. It commits State Parties to reduce greenhouse gases emissions, based on the premise that (a) global warming exists and (b) man-made CO₂ emissions have caused it. Till date, there are 84 signatories and India signed on August 26, 2002.