The Paris Agreement (the Paris Agreement) [3] is an agreement within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that deals with the reduction, adaptation and financing of greenhouse gas emissions and was signed in 2016. The language of the agreement was negotiated by representatives of 196 States Parties at the 21st UNFCCC Conference of parties held at Le Bourget, near Paris, France, and agreed on 12 December 2015. [4] [5] Since February 2020, all 196 UNFCCC members have signed the agreement and 189 have left. [1] Of the seven countries that are not parties to the law, Iran and Turkey are the only major emitters. At the 2011 UN Climate Change Conference, the Durban Platform (and the ad hoc working group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action) were created to negotiate a legal instrument to mitigate climate change from 2020. The resulting agreement is expected to be adopted in 2015. [62] Countries are also working to reach ”the global peak in greenhouse gas emissions” as soon as possible. The agreement has been described as an incentive and engine for the sale of fossil fuels. [13] [14] The Paris Agreement is the first legally binding universal global agreement on climate change adopted at the Paris Climate Change Conference (COP21) in December 2015. On August 4, 2017, the Trump administration officially announced to the United Nations that the United States intends to withdraw from the Paris Agreement as soon as it is legally entitled to it.
[79] The formal declaration of resignation could not be submitted until after the agreement for the United States came into force on November 4, 2019 for a three-year date. [80] [81] On November 4, 2019, the U.S. government filed the withdrawal notice with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, custodian of the agreement, and formally withdrew from the Paris Agreement a year later, when the withdrawal came into effect. [82] After the November 2020 elections, President-elect Joe Biden promised to reinstate the United States in the Paris Agreement for his first day in office and renew the U.S. commitment to climate change mitigation. [83] [84] In order to contribute to the objectives of the agreement, countries have submitted comprehensive national plans to combat climate change (nationally determined contributions, NDC). These are not yet sufficient to meet the agreed temperature targets, but the agreement points to the way forward for further measures. The EU and its member states are among the nearly 190 parties to the Paris Agreement.
The EU formally ratified the agreement on 5 October 2016, allowing it to enter into force on 4 November 2016. In order for the agreement to enter into force, at least 55 countries representing at least 55% of global emissions had to file their ratification instruments. The agreement stated that it would only enter into force (and therefore fully effective) if 55 countries that produce at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions (according to a list drawn up in 2015) [65] ratify, accept, approve or adhere to the agreement. [66] [67] On April 1, 2016, the United States and China, which together account for nearly 40% of global emissions, issued a joint statement confirming that the two countries would sign the Paris climate agreement. [69] 175 contracting parties (174 states and the European Union) signed the agreement on the first day of its signing. [59] [70] On the same day, more than 20 countries announced plans to join the accession as soon as possible in 2016.
