The November 30th Paris Climate Summit
November 30th 2015 marked the beginning of the two weeks climate summit in Paris. In this conference the world leaders are expected to delegate over means to slow down the pace of climate change. The meeting has been marked by many names
popular among them is COP21, which stands for the 21st meeting of the Conference of Parties which are among the United Nations Framework on Climate Change. The very first COP meeting ever held was held in Berlin in 1995, and the very famous of them was COP3, which yield the 1997 Kyoto Protocol in order to limit greenhouse gas emissions. In 2009 a Copenhagen conference was held but it failed to produce a meaningful agreement, therefore the world leaders are trying again to kick start the negotiations once again.
The main objective of this conference is to attain a universal agreement on climate which is legally binding, from every nations of the world; developed and developing. The Paris climate deal will serve as the beginning point for a long-term effort to limit global temperatures from rising above 2°C (3.6° Fahrenheit). Scientist has shown that once global warming moves up beyond that limit, the land, food and water supply will seriously be harmed, thereby endangering the population of the planet. During the 2014 Inter-governmental Panel for Climate Change, the panel said the planet has already warmed up by 0.85 degrees Celsius since 1880 to 2012 and therefore could move up by another 1.5 to 4 degrees by the end of the century if not controlled, as compared to 1850. The agreement is to be signed during this meeting and is expected to be implemented by 2020. The UNDP has supported a zealous outcome in Paris which will help foster efforts to treat climate change, and move all countries on the line towards zero-carbon, sustainable development. The summit has the potential to seal action and solidarity amongst all stakeholders thereby helping to minimize carbon emissions, while helping to adapt to the long-term effects of climate change.
Will this summit be a success?
According to the think tanks which includes the World Pensions Council the keys to success strictly lie on convincing the U.S. and Chinese policy makers: according to the arguments “as long as policy makers in Washington and Beijing (don’t) put all their political capital behind the adoption of ambitious carbon-emission capping targets, the laudable efforts of other G20 governments (will) remain in the realm of pious wishes”. The conference was held after two weeks after some terrorist attacks was recorded in central Paris. Therefore tight security measures was strictly provided ahead of the event accordingly, with not less than 30,000 police officers and approximately 285 security checkpoints put in place across the country until the conference is over. A year before the Paris climate talks there was some significant actions which suggest there is momentum headed for the talks.
In the summit held in Beijing last year, the American President Obama announced a U.S. pledge to cut emissions greatly by 26 % to 28 % by 2025, as compared to 2005 levels. However China did not give a specific amount they will cut, but they later set a target for its emissions to peak by 2030 or earlier if that will be possible. It is worth noting that the two nations combined are responsible for almost half of the world’s carbon emissions. Also before that agreement, the European Union has also agreed to reduce emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. Also known as the Kyoto Protocol, the current climate agreement came under scrutiny because it is said to never required China and other developing nations to make a reduction. Therefore the United State did not sign the agreement, and it covers about 14% of global emissions.
Ban Ki-moon condemns terrorist attack around the world while exempting Israel
At the opening of the High-Level Segment of the summit on Monday, 7 December, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warns that the clock is ticking towards climate disaster. He also told the delegates that the world is expecting more from them, thereby calling on the countries to agree to the commitments. However the Paris summit opened with a moment of silence for the recent victims of terrorist attack and a recitation of cities where Islamists have killed people, with an obvious omission of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
It was the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who marks the line connecting global warming and terrorism and hence ticked off the names of cities while omitting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The question remains was this action fair? Apparently the Jews that were killed there are not terror victims, according to Ban.