Why Is The Paris Agreement Considered Historical

Why Is The Paris Agreement Considered Historical

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The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the depositary of the Agreement. Therefore, the text and status of the agreement, including information on the parties that have signed and ratified the agreement, can be found on the United Nations Treaty Information website in the BATDSG Status Database. The Kyoto Protocol, a landmark environmental agreement adopted at COP3 in Japan in 1997, is the first time that countries have agreed on country-specific emission reduction targets that are legally mandated. The protocol, which only entered into force in 2005, set binding emission reduction targets only for developed countries, based on the assumption that they were responsible for most of the Earth`s high greenhouse gas emissions. The United States first signed the agreement, but never ratified it; President George W. Bush argued that the deal would hurt the U.S. economy because it would not include developing countries like China and India. Without the participation of these three countries, the effectiveness of the treaty has proven to be limited, as its objectives cover only a small fraction of total global emissions. Unlike the Kyoto Protocol, which sets legally binding emission reduction targets (as well as sanctions for non-compliance) only for developed countries, the Paris Agreement requires all countries – rich, poor, developed and developing – to do their part and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To this end, greater flexibility is built into the Paris Agreement: it does not include language on the commitments that countries should make, countries can voluntarily set their emission targets (NDCs), and no penalties are imposed on countries if they fail to meet the proposed targets. What the Paris Agreement requires, however, is monitoring, reporting, and reassessing countries` individual and collective goals over time in order to bring the world closer to the broader goals of the agreement. And the agreement requires countries to announce their next set of targets every five years – unlike the Kyoto Protocol, which aimed at that target but did not contain a specific requirement to achieve it. The 2007 Bali Action Plan launched talks for a new agreement providing for the “full, effective and sustainable implementation” of the UNFCCC.

The agreement is expected to be adopted at COP 15 in Copenhagen in 2009. .