Essay On Climate Change

The UNFCCC is working with the various governments around the world to stabilize the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere to keep the planet from warming more than 2ºC above pre-industrial temperatures (Watts, 2015). The most noted of the work is the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) meetings that began with COP1 in Berlin back in 1995. The COP3 adopted the Kyoto Protocol, even though it wasn’t fully accepted by all member nations. The COP21 was an effort to legally bind members to their submitted plans of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), defining what level of greenhouse gas production each nation would commit to not exceeding from 2025-2030. Prior to the INDCs, a bleak outlook was forecast in 2009-2010 of global temperature rising between 4-5ºC. That figure was restated by the UNFCCC prior to the COP21 in Paris, to below 3ºC, due to the commitments of the INDCs (Watts, 2015).

“Scientists have been warning about global warming for decades. It's too late to stop it now, but we can lessen its severity and impacts” - David Suzuki. Global warming, a primary topic of debate in various conversations throughout all levels of government, has been an issue for countless years. In fact, of the 134 years recorded, the 10 warmest years have all occurred “since 2000, with the exception of 1998 “(NASA). Solving a global issue such as this is not as easy as it may seem; however ,The Paris Agreement vows to do just that by setting a plan to limit global warming to well below 2°C in “the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal” (Europa). Before signing off on such an agreement one must analyze the many negatives

As of recently, the Paris Climate Talks gathered several of world’s leading nations to discuss the effects and measures needed to be taken to combat the on going threat of

The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change asserts that the time at which it is impossible to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius by mid century is precariously near. The 2-degree target was adopted by the countries within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change, also known as the UNFCCC. The UNFCCC also released a report that stated that carbon emissions need to reduce by 40 to 70 percent worldwide by 2050 in order to achieve the 2-degree target. Put simply, we must sacrifice what is convenient and compromise, while we still have the choice to do so.

The climate change impacts of greenhouse gases threaten the economic development and environmental quality. These threats indicate that all nations regardless their economic growth should work collaboratively to reduce the emission to a certain level. Hare et al. (2011) argued that “climate change is a collective action problem” thus requires a global coordination from all countries. This indicates that actions from several countries would never be sufficient to address the climate change problem. If a global target to limit warming to 2°C or below is about to achieve (UNFCCC 2010, p.4) a broad range of participation is required (Hare et al., 2011). However, the increasing complexity of negotiation processes is inevitable. Each country will pursue its own interests during the

According to an article focused on environmental awareness, “the world’s average surface temperature rose by approximately 1 degree Fahrenheit, the fastest rate in any period over the last 1000 years” (Source A). Damage has already been done to the environment but it is not the time to throw our hands up, it is the time for leaders in all sectors to tackle this issue head on. We know that carbon dioxide is the culprit, so now it is imperative to implement the solution and take a hard look at who is producing the most greenhouse gases. Big changes need to take place but they can only be done in steps and not all at once to be effective. In an excerpt from a book about global warming, Mark Maslin brings up the point that many feel the Kyoto Protocol does not go far enough; scientists believe that a 60% cut of greenhouse gas emissions is necessary in order to “prevent major climate change” (Source E). A sixty percent cut of emissions should be what countries work up to achieving but first and foremost, every country needs to agree to the Kyoto Protocol guidelines. The Kyoto Protocol itself should not be viewed as the end in the discussion of greenhouse gas restrictions, but rather the first stepping stone to a much broader and effective

The UNFCCC is an organisation created to provide and international response to challenge climate change by researching and implementing measures to limit and control the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions. Principles and framework are set out to aid the distribution of responsibilities within the countries as a means of reducing the associated greenhouse gas emissions.

ratification on the Kyoto Protocol with certain amendments would be necessary to it secure America’s role as world leader. The Kyoto Protocol and the evolving United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) are excellent ways to restore U.S. reputation and showcase America’s eagerness to flight a major global crisis – climate change. As outlined by Charli Coon in his article, “Why President Bush Is Right to Abandon the Kyoto Protocol,” the U.S. did not spearhead the global warming agenda for many reasons. While, President Clinton signed the Kyoto Protocol, requiring emission levels to fall below their 1990 benchmark by 2012, the State Department rejected the protocol in 2001 because it would hurt the U.S. economy and it excused developing countries from the reduction requirements. During the Bush administration, the U.S. was withheld from ratifying the Kyoto Protocol because of the lack of participation from the developing world. Although the U.S. has the highest carbon emission rate, developing countries are increasingly burning up fossil fuels for energy and are expected to surpass U.S. emission level. The Bush administration argued signing the Kyoto Protocol would threaten the U.S. economy and at that time. Also, the U.S. did not possess any technologies for removing or storing carbon dioxide. They also refuted that there was any scientific evidence for global warming. The conversation on climate change has since progressed among members of the international community. With the topic becoming more urgent, U.S. participation in a successor agreement is possible under certain conditions. Firstly, the successor agreement should allow states to individually strategize initiatives to mitigate climate change that best meets their needs and are within their capabilities. Secondly, there should be “anti-dumping” clauses within any new agreement to protect American green industries, thus incentivizing U.S.

For the last decade, climate change has been a controversial topic amongst governing nations. Determining and agreeing upon appropriate courses of action, as well as the decided effects on populations and ecosystems have also long been debated. With little knowledge on the effects climate change might have on the human population, as well as our ability (or inability) to adapt, governing bodies look towards the IPCC, or Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for information regarding possible risks and impacts from climate change.

On December 12 of 2015, 195 countries made history by committing to the first truly global international climate change agreement (Paris Agreement, 2015). This agreement took place in Paris and was adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The outcome of the Paris Conference on Climate Change was described as “revolutionary” (Venezuela) “marvelous act” (China) and as “a tremendous collective achievement” (European Union) that introduced a “new era of global climate governance” (Egypt) while “restoring the global community’s faith of accomplishing things multilaterally” (USA) (Paris Agreement, 2015).

Goal 7 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) sustainability goals (2014) is to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.In breaking down this goal, a number of specific targets have been generated to make the goal more attainable. The first of which is being able to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate related hazards and natural disasters in all countries. This target is difficult to assess because it is not directly measurable. The second target involves integrating climate change measures into all national policies, plans and strategies. It is easy to determine whether progress is being made with this objective because as more countries implement climate change

The Republic of South Africa signed the Kyoto Protocol under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 31 July, 2002 as a non-annex I party. Therefore, South Africa, like all other developing countries has not been allocated specific targets to commit to under the protocol. At the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) negotiations that took place in Copenhagen in 2009 (UNFCC, 2009), South Africa took the responsibility to carry out mitigation actions to reduce their emissions 34% by the year 2020, and 42% by the year 2025, below the business as usual trajectory (Voster, Winkler and Meagan, 2011 p.243). However, this pledge is subject to the provision and assistance of adequate, capacity building, financial and technological support from other developed countries.

The 2014 Climate Summit was completed in order to address the global issue of climate change and how all nations as a whole need to address the anthropogenic causes. The use of fossil fuels as an energy source is the major cause of the CO_2 emissions into the atmosphere. Figure 1 below shows the “World per Capita Carbon Emissions from Fossil Fuels from 1980-2010 and it can be clearly seen how the developed nations have released more carbon into the atmosphere than the developing nations” (1). Figure 2 below shows the “cumulative CO_2 emissions from 1900-2010, where about three quarters of CO_2 that has been released into the atmosphere is from the developed nations” (1). This illustrates that the global issues that we are facing now are almost completely caused by the developed nations. For this reason it is observed, by all nations, that there are common but differentiated responsibilities when it comes to this issue since some nations are much more developed than others and have contributed to the majority of greenhouse gas emissions from 1900-2010. The reasoning for this climate summit is that without any changes being made to how the developed nations continue to use conventional energy sources and how the

Climate change is a lethal and destructive force. In the recent past major climatic events like floods, tsunamis etc. have led to substantial destruction of wealth. Such events have highlighted the need of mechanisms for risk sharing of the losses and restoring the lost human and infrastructural capital. The climate change agreement declared on December 12, 2015 was one of the highlights of the year. It showcased the resolve of various nations in fighting climate change. It was a welcome change from Copenhagen.

These reports led to a call for international action and thus the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was established in 1994. The Framework envisaged two main strategies to tackle climate change-