On Day One, President Joe Biden signed an executive order – to return the United States of America to full membership of the Paris Climate Agreement. ( That was wonderful to write ! )
The Guardian reported it so….. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/19/biden-environment-paris-climate-agreement-keystone-xl-pipeline?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
This is VERY good news indeed – the United States is once again a strong leader and partner in the vital fight against climate change!
A search for ‘US withdrawal of Paris Agreement’ – the following was a result ….
Environmental humour ?
…. PAris agreement, not ‘citizens of Paris’
WHY IT’S SO IMPORTANT FOR THE US TO RECOMMIT TO THE PARIS AGREEMENT
WHAT IS THE PARIS AGREEMENT?
At COP 21 in December 2015 in Paris, France, the world agreed on one primary, overarching goal: to limit “global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius, while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees.”
To get there – and achieve a number of other goals along the way – each country committed to nationally determined contributions (NDCs) spelling out how much it would cut its greenhouse gas emissions by and by when. Many also included commitments to other steps to fight climate change.
The critical part of NDCs is that they gave each country the flexibility to tailor its climate action plan to its own unique circumstances. And importantly, a review mechanism is built in requiring countries to ramp up their commitments and submit new, more ambitious ones every five years.
The agreement entered into force – aka the compulsory elements of the agreement became binding on the parties who had ratified it – on November 4, 2016. After decades of international climate negotiations, beginning with the creation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, we finally had the world’s first truly global climate action plan ready to go.
Then, just months later, things changed. Delivering on a campaign promise he had made, on June 1, 2017, President Donald Trump announced the United States’ intent to withdraw from the historic accord.
Of the decision, Climate Reality’s President and CEO Ken Berlin ( https://climaterealityproject.org ) said :
“Today is a dark day for the millions of people around the world who have rallied around the noble and necessary goal of ending the climate crisis. The Trump Administration’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement is selfish and shortsighted…The Paris Agreement is a testament to the broad international consensus on climate action. To its own detriment and the detriment of other nations, the US is giving up both its seat at the table and its leadership role in the world.”
WHY GETTING BACK IN MATTERS
‘Already, wind and solar power alone are expected to attract over $11 trillion in investments by 2050. That any administration could look at those numbers and not just walk away, but scoff at the very notions underlying their development, suggests a serious lack of scientific literacy and economic foresight – as well as a failure of empathy for the millions suffering the effects of the climate crisis right now … and the billions more who would endure them down the road. ‘
Let’s end with a ‘hope-filled video’ …
https://youtu.be/Ku7uZ0Gok2g
