2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference

United Nations Climate Change Conference
Date 30 November 2015 (2015-11-30)–
12 December 2015 (2015-12-12)
Location Le Bourget in the suburbs of Paris, France
Also known as COP 21/CMP 11
Participants Parties to the UNFCCC
Website Venue site
UNFCCC site

The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11 was held in Paris, France from 30 November to 12 December 2015. It was the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 11th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.[1]

The conference negotiated the Paris Agreement, a global agreement on the reduction of climate change, the text of which represented a consensus of the representatives of the 196 parties attending it.[2] The agreement will become legally binding if joined by at least 55 countries which together represent at least 55 percent of global greenhouse emissions.[3][4][5] Such parties will need to sign the agreement in New York between 22 April 2016 (Earth Day) and 21 April 2017, and also adopt it within their own legal systems (through ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession).

According to the organizing committee at the outset of the talks,[6] the expected key result was an agreement to set a goal of limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius (°C) compared to pre-industrial levels. The agreement calls for zero net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions to be reached during the second half of the 21st century. In the adopted version of the Paris Agreement,[3] the parties will also "pursue efforts to" limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C.[2] The 1.5 °C goal will require zero emissions sometime between 2030 and 2050, according to some scientists.[2]

Prior to the conference, 146 national climate panels publicly presented draft national climate contributions (called "Intended Nationally Determined Contributions", INDCs). These suggested commitments were estimated to limit global warming to 2.7 degrees Celsius by 2100.[7] For example, the EU suggested INDC is a commitment to a 40 percent reduction in emissions by 2030 compared to 1990.[8] The agreement establishes a "global stocktake" which revisits the national goals to "update and enhance" them every five years beginning 2023.[3] However, no detailed timetable or country-specific goals for emissions were incorporated into the Paris Agreement – as opposed to the previous Kyoto Protocol.

A number of meetings took place in preparation for COP21, including the Bonn Climate Change Conference, 19 to 23 October 2015, which produced a draft agreement.[9]

Background

Shows the top 40 CO2 emitting countries and related in the world in 1990 and 2012, including per capita figures. The data is taken from the EU Edgar database.

According to the organizing committee of the summit in Paris, the objective of the 2015 conference was to achieve, for the first time in over 20 years of UN negotiations, a binding and universal agreement on climate, from all the nations of the world.[10] Pope Francis published an encyclical called Laudato si' intended, in part, to influence the conference. The encyclical calls for action against climate change. The International Trade Union Confederation has called for the goal to be "zero carbon, zero poverty", and its general secretary Sharan Burrow has repeated that there are "no jobs on a dead planet".

Key role of China and the U.S.

Think-tanks such as the World Pensions Council (WPC) argued that the keys to success lay in convincing officials in the U.S. and China, by far the two largest national emitters: "As long as policy makers in Washington and Beijing didn't put all their political capital behind the adoption of ambitious carbon-emission capping targets, the laudable efforts of other G20 governments often remained in the realm of pious wishes. Things changed for the better on 12 November 2014 when President Obama and General Secretary Xi Jinping agreed to limit greenhouse gases emissions."[11]

President Obama insisted on America’s essential role in that regard: “We’ve led by example […] from Alaska to the Gulf Coast to the Great Plains [...] we’ve seen the longest streak of private job creation in our history. We’ve driven our economic output to all time-highs while driving our carbon pollution down to its lowest level in nearly two decades. And then, with our historic joint announcement with China last year, we showed it was possible to bridge the old divide between developed and developing nations that had stymied global progress for so long […] That was the foundation for success in Paris.”[12]

Location and participation

The location of UNFCCC talks is rotated by regions throughout United Nations countries. The 2015 conference was held at Le Bourget from 30 November[13] to 11 December 2015.

To some extent, France served as a model country for delegates attending COP21 because it is one of the few developed countries in the world to decarbonize electricity production and fossil fuel energy while still providing a high standard of living.[14] As of 2012, France generated over 90% of its electricity from zero carbon sources, including nuclear, hydroelectric, and wind.

The conference took place two weeks after a series of terrorist attacks in central Paris. Security was tightened accordingly, with 30,000 police officers and 285 security checkpoints deployed across the country until after the conference ended.[15]

The European Union and 185 nations (see list in reference)[16] were the participating parties.

Negotiations

COP 21: Heads of delegations
Delegates
Enrique Peña Nieto, François Hollande, Angela Merkel, Michelle Bachelet
Press conference at the Chinese pavilion.

The overarching goal of the Convention is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit the global temperature increase. Since COP 17 this increase is set at 2 °C (3.6 °F) above pre-industrial levels.[17] However, Christiana Figueres acknowledged in the closing briefing at the 2012 Doha conference: "The current pledges under the second commitment period of the Kyoto protocol are clearly not enough to guarantee that the temperature will stay below 2 °C and there is an ever increasing gap between the action of countries and what the science tells us."

During previous climate negotiations, countries agreed to outline actions they intended to take within a global agreement, by 1 October 2015. These commitments are known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions or INDCs.[18] Together, the INDCs would reduce global warming from an estimated 4–5 °C (by 2100) to 2.7 °C, and reduce emissions per capita by 9% by 2030, while providing hope in the eyes of the conference organizers for further reductions in the future that would allow meeting a 2 °C target.[19]

Outcome

Main article: Paris Agreement

On 12 December 2015, the participating 195 countries agreed, by consensus, to the final[20] global pact, the Paris Agreement, to reduce emissions as part of the method for reducing greenhouse gas. In the 12-page document,[3] the members agreed to reduce their carbon output "as soon as possible" and to do their best to keep global warming "to well below 2 degrees C".[21] In the course of the debates, island states of the Pacific, the Seychelles, but also the Philippines, threatened by their very existence by sea level rise, had strongly voted for setting a goal of 1.5°C instead of only 2°C.[22][23] France's Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, said this "ambitious and balanced" plan was an "historic turning point" in the goal of reducing global warming.[24] However, some others criticized the fact that significant sections are "promises" or aims and not firm commitments by the countries.[25]

Non-binding commitments, lack of enforcement mechanisms

The Agreement will not become binding on its member states until 55 parties who produce over 55% of the world's greenhouse gas have ratified the Agreement. There is doubt whether some countries, especially the United States,[26] will agree to do so.[2]

Each country that ratifies the agreement will be required to set a target for emission reduction, but the amount will be voluntary.[27][28] There will be neither a mechanism to force[29] a country to set a target by a specific date nor enforcement measures if a set target is not met.[28][30] There will be only a "name and shame" system[31] or, as János Pásztor, the U.N. assistant secretary-general on climate change, told CBS News, a "name and encourage" plan.[32]

Some analysts have also observed that the stated objectives of the Paris Agreement are implicitly “predicated upon an assumption – that member states of the United Nations, including high polluters such as China, the US, India, Brazil, Canada, Russia, Indonesia and Australia, which generate more than half the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, will somehow drive down their carbon pollution voluntarily and assiduously without any binding enforcement mechanism to measure and control CO2 emissions at any level from factory to state, and without any specific penalty gradation or fiscal pressure (for example a carbon tax) to discourage bad behaviour.” [33]

Institutional investors' contribution to limiting fossil fuels

Speaking at the 5th annual World Pensions Forum held on the sidelines of the COP21 Summit, Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs argued that institutional investors would eventually divest from carbon-reliant firms if they could not react to political and regulatory efforts to halt climate change: "Every energy company in a pension fund's portfolio needs to be scrutinized from purely a financial view about its future, 'Why is this [a company] we would want to hold over a five- to 20-year period?'... If we continue to hold major energy companies that don’t have an answer to a basic financial test, we are just gambling. We have to take a fiduciary responsibility – these are not good bets."[34]

Some US policy makers concurred, notably Al Gore, insisting that "no agreement is perfect, and this one must be strengthened over time, but groups across every sector of society will now begin to reduce dangerous carbon pollution through the framework of this agreement."[35]

Declarations of non-state parties

As is usual before such major conferences, major NGOs and groups of governments have drafted and published a wide variety of declarations they intend to seek a consensus on, at the Paris conference itself. These include at least the following major efforts:

Financing

Greenpeace activists, demanding 100% renewable energy at Climate March 2015 in Madrid.

The conference was budgeted to cost €170m (US$186.87m at the time). The French government said that 20% of the cost would be borne by French firms such as EDF, Engie (formerly known as GDF Suez), Air France, Renault-Nissan and BNP Paribas.[53]

Demonstrations

Around the world, 600,000 took part in demonstrations in favour of a strong agreement. Paris had a ban on public gatherings in the wake of recent terrorist attacks, but allowed thousands to demonstrate on 12 December against what they felt was a too-weak treaty. There was also an illegal demonstration in Paris, including violent clashes between police and anarchists,10 policemen injured and 317 people arrested.[54][55]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "19th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC". International Institute for Sustainable Development. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Sutter, John D.; Berlinger, Joshua (12 December 2015). "Final draft of climate deal formally accepted in Paris". CNN. Cable News Network, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Adoption of the Paris agreement—Proposal by the President—Draft decision -/CP.21" (PDF). UNFCCC. 2015-12-12. Archived from the original on 2015-12-12. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
  4. ↑ The Editorial Board (28 November 2015). "What the Paris Climate Meeting Must Do". New York Times. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  5. ↑ Borenstein, Seth (29 November 2015). "Earth is a wilder, warmer place since last climate deal made". Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  6. ↑ What is COP21? access date 30 November 2015
  7. ↑ New UN Report Synthesizes National Climate Plans from 146 Countries, UNFCCC 30 October 2015
  8. ↑ Intended Nationally Determined Contribution of the EU and its Member States, 6 March 2015
  9. ↑ "Bonn Climate Change Conference - October 2015". unfccc.int. Retrieved 2015-12-15.
  10. ↑ "Issues and reasons behind the French offer to host the 21st Conference of the Parties on Climate Change 2015". Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  11. ↑ Firzli, M. Nicolas J. (September 2015). "Climate: Renewed Sense of Urgency in Washington and Beijing" (PDF). Analyse Financière. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  12. ↑ President Obama (12 December 2015). "President Obama’s Statement on Climate Change". White House Briefing Room. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  13. ↑ "France confirmed as host of 2015 Climate Conference". Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  14. ↑ Guivarch, Celine and Hallegatte, S., 2C or Not 2C? 19 January 2012. FEEM Working Paper No. 87.2011. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1988201 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1988201
  15. ↑ Worland, Justin (November 14, 2015), Paris Climate Conference to Proceed with Heightened Security After Attacks, Time Inc.
  16. ↑ "Status of Ratification of the Convention". United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Retrieved 15 Dec 2015.
  17. ↑ "Schedule of Events" (PDF). United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  18. ↑ "What is an INDC? | World Resources Institute". Wri.org. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  19. ↑ Nick Nuttall, Global Response to Climate Change Keeps Door Open to 2 Degree C Temperature Limit, UNFCCC press office, 30 Oct 2015.
  20. ↑ Chappel, Bill (12 December 2015). "Nearly 200 Nations Adopt Climate Agreement At COP21 Talks In Paris". NPR. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  21. ↑ no byline (12 December 2015). "'Historic' Paris climate deal adopted". CBC News. CBC/Radio Canada. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  22. ↑ "The Pacific countries that need the Paris 1.5C temperature rise agreement to 'stay alive'". Independent (London, England). 12 December 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  23. ↑ "Will ‘1.5 to stay alive’ deal be enough to save Seychelles?". The Guardian (London, England). 12 December 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  24. ↑ Doyle, Allister; Lewis, Barbara (12 December 2015). "World seals landmark climate accord, marking turn from fossil fuels". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  25. ↑ Milman, Oliver (12 December 2015). "James Hansen, father of climate change awareness, calls Paris talks 'a fraud'". The Guardian (London, England). Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  26. ↑ Pengelly, Martin (December 12, 2015). "Obama praises Paris climate deal as 'tribute to American leadership'". The Guardian (London, England). Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  27. ↑ Sutter, John D.; Berlinger, Joshua (December 12, 2015). "Obama: Climate agreement 'best chance we have' to save the planet". CNN. CNN Network, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  28. 1 2 Kinver, Mark (14 December 2015). "COP21: What does the Paris climate agreement mean for me?". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  29. ↑ Reguly, Eric (14 December 2015). "Paris climate accord marks shift toward low-carbon economy". Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada). Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  30. ↑ Davenport, Coral (12 December 2015). "Nations Approve Landmark Climate Accord in Paris". New York Times. New York Times. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  31. ↑ "Paris climate deal: What the agreement means for India and the world". Hindustan Times. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  32. ↑ no byline (12 December 2015). "Climate negotiators strike deal to slow global warming". CBS News. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  33. ↑ M. Nicolas J. Firzli (25 January 2016). "Investment Governance: The Real Fight against Emissions is Being Waged by Markets". Dow Jones Financial News.
  34. ↑ Andrew Pearce (6 December 2015). "Jeffrey Sachs: Fund Managers Have a Duty to Dump Fossil Fuels". Financial News. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  35. ↑ John Vidal (13 December 2015). "Paris Climate Agreement ‘May Signal End of Fossil Fuel Era’". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  36. ↑ "ICLEI World Congress 2015 sees Mayors commit ahead of Paris COP 21 - Bridging the Gap". Transport2020.org. 15 April 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  37. ↑ "World Mayors and Municipal Leaders Declaration on Climate Change" (PDF). Archive.iclei.org. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  38. ↑ "European capital and large cities for climate action en route to COP 21" (PDF). Stadtentwicklung.berlin.de. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  39. ↑ "World Summit of Regions for Climate". Regions-climate.org. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  40. ↑ "signs a declaration in preparation for the COP 21". The Shift Project. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  41. ↑ "Asia Indigenous Peoples' Declaration on the 21st Session of the UNFCCC-Conference of Parties (COP21)". Aippnet.org. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  42. ↑ "Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee". IPACC. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  43. ↑ "Looking ahead COP21: State of negotiations on the Indigenous Peoples' agenda". Ipcca.info. 11 September 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  44. ↑ "Indigenous Peoples Seek Presence in Post-2015 Development Agenda | Inter Press Service". Ipsnews.net. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  45. ↑ "United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples" (PDF). Un.org. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  46. ↑ "Summary of Indigenous People's Demands for UNFCCC CoP20, Lima, Peru | Forest Peoples Programme". Forestpeoples.org. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  47. ↑ "When Drones Guard the Pipeline: Militarizing Fossil Fuels in the East | Earth First! Newswire". Earthfirstjournal.org. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  48. ↑ "Global Women's Climate Justice Day of Action - Sept. 29, 2015 | WECAN". Wecaninternational.org. 29 September 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  49. ↑ "G20 summit: Modi pushes for $100 bn finances to pursue clean energy, proposes grand global solar alliance". Firstpost. 15 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  50. ↑ "India should take initiatives to form league like OPEC: Modi". Charanka. 19 April 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  51. ↑ "Narendra Modi, Francois Hollande invite over 100 countries for solar alliance". Economictimes.indiatimes.com. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  52. ↑ Bisiaux, Alice. "Event: UNFCCC COP 21 | Climate Change Policy & Practice | IISD Reporting Services". Climate-l.iisd.org. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  53. ↑ Arthur Neslen (29 May 2015). "France defends 'imperfect' fossil fuel sponsors for Paris climate summit". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 September 2015. guard
  54. ↑ Global climate march 2015: hundreds of thousands march around the world – as it happened, 9.43pm, The Guardian. Accessed 13 Dec 2015.
  55. ↑ Alissa J. Rubier & Elian Peltier Protesters Are in Agreement as Well: Pact Is Too Weak, The Telepgraph, 12 Dec 2015. Accessed 13 Dec 2015.

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