The Paris climate talks ended with all 195 nations agreeing to cut carbon emissions to combat global warming. Previous agreements asked only the developed nations to do so, leaving the developing nations, including mega-polluter China, to keep pursuing economic growth without worrying about energy use and climate change. This agreement, in contrast, committed pretty much all of the world’s nations, though the richer nations promised economic help for the poorer nations to meet the goals. See this for specifics.
What struck me was the self-congratulatory words of many of the world’s leaders (from the AP story linked after the jump):
“It’s a victory for all of the planet and for future generations,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, adding that the pact will “prevent the worst most devastating consequences of climate change from ever happening.”
“History will remember this day,” U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said. “The Paris agreement on climate change is a monumental success for the planet and its people.”
President Barack Obama said the climate agreement offers “the best chance to save the one planet we have.”
“The 12th of December, 2015, will remain a great date for the planet,” [French President Francois] Hollande declared. “In Paris, there have been many revolutions over the centuries. Today it is the most beautiful and the most peaceful revolution that has just been accomplished — a revolution for climate change.”
via Historic pact to slow global warming is celebrated in Paris (AP) | Oklahoman.com.
Nearly 200 nations adopted the first global pact to fight climate change on Saturday, calling on the world to collectively cut and then eliminate greenhouse gas pollution but imposing no sanctions on countries that don’t.
The “Paris agreement” aims to keep global temperatures from rising another degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) between now and 2100, a key demand of poor countries ravaged by rising sea levels and other effects of climate change. . . .
In the pact, the countries pledge to limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to the levels that trees, soil and oceans can absorb naturally, beginning at some point between 2050 and 2100.
In practical terms, achieving that goal means the world would have to stop emitting greenhouse gases — most of which come from the burning of oil, coal and gas for energy — altogether in the next half-century, scientists said. That’s because the less we pollute, the less pollution nature absorbs.
Achieving such a reduction in emissions would involve a complete transformation of how people get energy, and many activists worry that despite the pledges, countries are not ready to make such profound, costly changes.
The deal now needs to be ratified by individual governments — at least 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of global emissions — before taking effect. It is the first pact to ask all countries to join the fight against global warming, representing a sea change in U.N. talks that previously required only wealthy nations to reduce their emissions.
[Keep reading. . .]
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