Paris Agreement

President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China have decided to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change on April 22 (Earth Day), the first day the United Nations accord will be open for government signatures.

• The two world leaders made the announcement on the sidelines of a nuclear security meeting in Washington.
• Combined, the United States and China account for about 40% of global emissions.

Paris Agreement:

The Paris Agreement, reached in December, is the first global accord to commit nearly every nation to take domestic actions to tackle climate change.

• The agreement requires any country that ratifies it to act to stem its greenhouse gas emissions in the coming century, with the goal of peaking greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and continuing the reductions as the century progresses.
• Countries will have to aim to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2°C by 2100 with an ideal target of keeping temperature rise below 1.5°C.
• The agreement also includes a provision requiring developed countries to send $100 billion annually to their developing counterparts beginning in 2020. This figure is expected to increase with time.
• The agreement gives countries considerable leeway in determining how to cut their emissions but mandates that they report transparently on those efforts. Every five years nations will be required to assess their progress towards meeting their climate commitments and submit new plans to strengthen them. Some elements in the agreement are binding-like reporting requirements.
• The Paris Agreement will enter into legal force only when enough countries have signed on: Together they have to be responsible for causing 55% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.