The final Paris agreement aims to increase funding to developing countries, both through increased resources and by promoting an expanded donor base. It reaffirms the existing financial commitments of developed countries – such as the Copenhagen commitment, which is expressly confirmed in the decision text annexed to the Paris Agreement by 2025 – and orders developed countries to ensure that their continued efforts constitute a “progress” that goes beyond previous efforts. The text of the decision also stipulates that a new collective target will be set by 2025, in excess of $100 billion per year. In response to the climate challenge, the agreement recognizes that states have common but differentiated responsibilities, i.e. according to their national capabilities and specificities. The agreement stated that it would only enter into force (and therefore fully effective) if 55 countries that produce at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions (according to a list drawn up in 2015) [65] ratify, accept, approve or adhere to the agreement. [66] [67] On April 1, 2016, the United States and China, which together account for nearly 40% of global emissions, issued a joint statement confirming that the two countries would sign the Paris climate agreement. [69] 175 contracting parties (174 states and the European Union) signed the agreement on the first day of its signing. [59] [70] On the same day, more than 20 countries announced plans to join the accession as soon as possible in 2016.
The ratification by the European Union has achieved a sufficient number of contracting parties to enter into force on 4 November 2016. Particular controversy was raised at the conference on how to address economic and non-economic damage caused by extreme weather events and slow events, such as sea level rise and desertification. This issue is called “loss and damage” in the UNFCCC. The alliance of small island states and least developed countries, whose economies and livelihoods are most affected by the negative effects of climate change, has taken the initiative to address losses and damage as a particular theme of the Paris Agreement. [33] However, developed countries were concerned that looking at the issue as a separate issue that goes beyond adaptation would create additional climate funding or imply legal responsibility for catastrophic climate events. By quantifying the damage done to society by CO2 pollution, Trump sees America as an island apart – and we all know what climate change is doing to the islands. These rules of transparency and accountability are similar to those set out in other international agreements. Although the system does not include financial sanctions, the requirements are intended to easily monitor the progress of individual nations and promote a sense of overall group pressure, discouraging any towing of feet among countries that might consider it.
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