What is the Paris Agreement and what does the departure of the United States mean for climate action?
He Paris Agreementof which the president donald trump has signed the exit of USAis an international, legally binding treaty on climate change, adopted in December 2015 by almost 200 countries to limit global warming to below 2°C, compared to pre-industrial levels.
The decision to abandon said agreement by the new president of the United States, who materialized his commitment in an executive order a few hours after his inauguration, has not generally surprised, because the measure had been previously announced.
But the president’s haste to ratify it shortly after taking office suggests that he will be agile in the review of energy and climate policy of the country from his new position at the head of the country.
In fact, Donald Trump has already announced measures that move away from the global climate fight and darken the environmental panorama with his messages in which he supports fossil fuels and the withdrawal of his support for green actions undertaken by the previous Biden Administration.
Leaving the Paris Agreement is not something that will be implemented automatically, since technically It has been a year since the decision to leave was officially notified by the United States to the United Nations for execution.
This is not the first time that the United States has left the Paris Agreement; He already did it previously during Trump’s previous term as head of the United States.
Since the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol in February 2005, it became clear that it was necessary work to develop a global climate regime to combat climate change that included all countries in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Paris Agreement marked a milestone in the commitment of countries to global action to mitigate global warming by agreeing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions until achieving a climate-neutral planet by mid-century.
It involves for the first time a binding agreement for all countries to join in a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
His aim is limit global warming to well below 2, preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
From July 2023 to December 2024, all months except July of last year exceeded the 1.5 ºC threshold, although that does not mean that the Paris objective has already been met, because the temperature of 1850 must be exceeded. 1900 at least for a decade.
The United States stands out among the main greenhouse gas emitters behind Chinawhich is the main polluter, so Trump’s decision to reverse the Paris Agreement revives questions about the global climate fight and the role of global climate summits.
At the global climate conferences held every year in different countries around the world, the COPs, top political leaders and leaders from almost 200 countries around the world meet to establish commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The negotiations are carried out on multiple sides, taking into account the global needs of the world and the particular efforts of countries to achieve climate objectives, which require criteria that cause friction between more or less polluting countries and with more or less resources at the time. to reach agreements.
This model of global negotiations, of which the EU is usually the locomotive, tends to pit countries from the global north and south against each other in commitments to reduce emissions.
In the last COP, the 29th, in Baku (Azerbaijan), prior to the one in Brazil, which will mark three decades of history of these global climate events, progress was made on financing issues with the commitment to approve a fund of 300,000 million dollars to finance climate action in the global south.
The next United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) will be held in Brazil, presenting a new opportunity for strengthen the commitments made and ensure that climate action remains at the center of global policieson the path towards a green and sustainable future.
Every five years, so it will be the turn in 2025, all countries must communicate and maintain Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) or plans to combat climate change that must include reduction objectives of greenhouse gas emissions.
Furthermore, all countries must implement national policies and measures to achieve these objectives.
The Paris Agreement recognizes the importance of increasing the ambition of commitments with increasingly ambitious objectives.
Likewise, it highlights the relevance of ecosystems as carbon sinks, in particular, forests, which are explicitly included in the Agreement, and recognizes the possibility of using market mechanisms to meet the objectives set by countries.
(with information from EFE)
