[OPINION] The Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement

By: Duy Nguyen

Every year, leaders worldwide gather around for the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, where they reevaluate progress towards the 17 sustainable goals, most importantly, the implementation of the Paris Agreement, an international climate change treaty finalized in 2015. The goal of the Paris Agreement is to “restrict the level of increase of global temperature to below 2° C above pre-industrial level”. The annual conference serves as a time to reflect on the progress made and re-strategize. It has been almost 9 years since the Paris Agreement was first put into action, with many conferences taking place, but it seems like world leaders never upheld their end of the bargain.

Much evidence has shown that many countries haven’t lived up to this Agreement. An example of this is when former president Donald Trump decided to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on June 1st, 2017, reasoning that the Paris Agreement would put America at a high disadvantage, undermining US economic power. However, doing so results in bruising US foreign relations with other countries. By leaving, the US also prevents $3 billion from being invested in endeavors that could improve how climate change could be tackled, shutting down further investments in this matter. But even for countries that do not withdraw, climate pledges made by other countries such as Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are “critically insufficient”. Countries including Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, and Vietnam are deemed “highly insufficient”.

Even though almost all countries follow the Paris Agreement, many nations face financial challenges. The money raised for poorer and developed countries has only reached the $4.9 billion mark, compared to the initial $100 billion promised to help developed countries by 2020. So it is not clear how the monetary goals this time would be reached, but one thing for sure is that when disaster strikes, developing countries like Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia would have to bear the most consequences due to a lack of financial aid if this trend continues.

However, despite the world falling short of stopping the increase of global warming, there still is some hope with the Paris Agreement’s new enactment. The rapid increase of solar panels and electric vehicles was a positive surprise, as solar panels grew 10 times and electric vehicles grew 100 times between 2010 and 2019. More countries like Japan, China, and the EU are expected to establish carbon neutrality targets, sparking new low-carbon solutions and markets. It is estimated that by 2030, zero carbon emissions will represent over 70% of global emissions.

In conclusion, I believe that for the Paris Agreement to be efficient, the world still needs to do a lot more to overcome financial hubris and to be able to raise enough money to save the very world that we live in. Each individual needs to develop a sense of responsibility that would build a collective momentum for change, and until then will the globe be willing to fight for environmental justice and truly come together to achieve the goals set in the Paris Agreement.


Sources:

Di Sario, F. (2023, September 9). The world isn’t on track to meet Paris Agreement goals, says UN climate review. POLITICO. https://www.politico.eu/article/paris-agreement-goals-failed-climate-change-global-warming-united-nations-climate-review/

Schonhardt, S. (2024, July 25). If Trump Were to Pull the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement Again, It Will Be Much Harder to Rejoin. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/if-trump-were-to-pull-the-u-s-from-the-paris-climate-agreement-again-it-will/

The Paris Agreement | United Nations. (n.d.). United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/paris-agreement

Maizland, L. (2023, December 6). Global Climate Agreements: Successes and Failures. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/paris-global-climate-change-agreements