History will be the ultimate judge of last weekend’s historic Paris Agreement, the pact that commits 196 nations to work together in an attempt to limit climate change and stem the continued rise of greenhouse gas emissions.
The pact, adopted after years of groundwork and 13 days of intense bargaining in France, puts the world’s nations on a course that aims to change the way energy is produced and consumed, with countries gradually reducing their reliance on fossil fuels in favor of cleaner forms of energy.
It is a positive step that, finally, a large percentage of the world’s leaders have figured out that there is a serious problem regarding climate change and, more importantly, have agreed to actually do something to safeguard the planet from its worst ravages. The fact that 196 nations signed off on the proposal is a rare display of universal agreement on a topic that has been a political football in many nations, including the United States.
The agreement cobbles together pledges by individual nations to cut or reduce emissions from fossil-fuel burning, and it establishes a framework of rules which provide for both monitoring and verification, as well as financial and technical assistance for developing countries. All 196 nations are obligated to limit their emissions to relatively safe levels, leading to less than 2 degrees Celsius of global temperature rise, with a hope for only 1.5 degrees Celsius, with regular evaluations to ensure that these commitments can be increased in line with scientific advice. Additionally, funding will be provided to poorer nations, so they can work effectively to reduce emissions and deal better with the effects of extreme weather. Further, nations impacted by climate-related disasters will gain urgent aid.
It is also a significant achievement for President Barack Obama and his administration. The president has made dealing with climate change a key provision of his political legacy, all the while facing vocal opposition from many Republicans, who take umbrage with the scientific community’s position that Earth’s recent warming is directly linked to man-made pollution.
However, there are some issues that need to be resolved as countries implement the proposal. First, poor countries are concerned that the money provided to them will not be nearly enough to protect them. Without proper funding, it is likely that some of these nations will opt out, hampering the pact’s implementation. Also, the agreement does not take effect until 2020. True, it takes nations some time to put in place their own steps to bring about a proposal of this magnitude, but because not all of the agreement is legally binding, some future governments could yet renege on their commitments.
Political necessity here in the United States is one of the key reasons that the pact is not legally binding. Set up this way, the Obama administration does not have to bring the agreement before the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate for approval. According to Secretary of State John Kerry, binding legal requirements would have made the Paris agreement a treaty, requiring approval from two-thirds of the U.S. Senate — an impossibility in the current political climate.
Further, we in South Florida have regional concerns as well. As we noted in August, some 2.4 million people and 1.3 million homes in Florida sit within 4 feet of the local high tide line. Sea level rise is more than doubling the risk of a storm surge at this level in South Florida by 2030. Taxpayers are already paying the price for climate change as saltwater pushes through porous bedrock into coastal drinking-water supplies, and rivers and canals choked by heavy rains have a harder time draining. Hopefully, the action taken by the world community will be enough to stop the changes before irreversible damage is done to our fragile ecosystem.
For all its flaws, the Paris Agreement serves a useful purpose. It places its emphasis not on a politically impossible “cap and trade” concept that made dealing with climate change the enemy of economic growth, but on a push for cleaner energy and new technology. That’s something we do well here in the United States. Here is hoping that this new pact leads to a new era of innovation that puts the worst dangers of climate change behind us. With a little luck, history will judge the effort a success, not too little, too late.
