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“What’s the deal with the Paris Climate Accord?”


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Source: sustainability.yale.edu


What is the Paris Climate Accord?


The Paris Climate Accord, an agreement meant to bring all nations together to both fight climate change, as well as to adapt to the inevitable effects caused by it. It does this by setting goals of reducing warming levels to pre-industrial times, as well as putting new technology and enhanced capacity-building framework in place. The PCA requires all of its members to put forward their best effort to combat climate change. The PCA was officially ratified back in 2016, so why is it still so relevant? Isn’t it old news?


Not really. The PCA came back into public vision when the United States was the only country to pull out of the agreement out of nearly 200 countries who are part of the project. President Trump publicly announced our withdrawal in the Summer of 2017, and we've formally stopped implementing PCA policies around late 2019. Trump justified his claims, saying the PCA “disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other countries, leaving American workers and taxpayers to absorb the cost in terms of lost jobs, lower wages, shuttered factories, and vastly diminished economic production.” However, countries ultimately get to choose how much they contribute to the PCA. Supposing it was, however, none of those impacts would outweigh the devastation that climate change will bring to all of humanity if left unchecked.


According to The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), “global climate change has already had observable effects on the environment. Glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up earlier, plant and animal ranges have shifted and trees are flowering sooner. Effects that scientists had predicted in the past would result from global climate change are currently occurring: loss of sea ice, accelerated sea-level rise and longer, more intense heat waves.”


But what does that mean for you? Well, you can expect the price of food to go up, for one thing. Heatwaves and droughts during the past several years have been connected to fluctuating wheat prices, including a 20% spike in European and U.S. markets for three weeks in 2018. This also results in your home being less safe. With increased temperatures, wildfires will grow more out of control (just look at California for empirical evidence). With rising sea levels, flooding will happen more frequently. Furthermore, your home insurance rates will probably go up as a result of those factors.


What has happened as a result?


Although the U.S. (or any other country for that matter) doesn’t have to participate in the PCA to reduce emissions and fight climate change, it’s evident that the Trump administration has no intention of doing so. Trump has aggressively supported the development of fossil fuels, smashed all regulations meant to shift the U.S. away from oil, gas, and coal, and towards renewables. Trump, when asked in regards to the wildfires being magnified by climate change, said “K, it’ll start getting cooler. You just watch.”


Meanwhile, countries that are participating in the PCA are seeing great benefits, both in terms of climate change reduction and otherwise. As a direct result of the PCA, Kenyan herders are now able to access satellite data to help them find the best grassland, Chile has released a massive climate change plan to become 100% renewable by 2040, and the substantial increased international funding of green bonds. Green bonds, for those unaware, are used for environmentally beneficial projects.


Should we rejoin?


Obviously, it would be a good idea to try to reduce carbon emissions and to help fund developing countries' endeavors as well. The U.S. has a huge economy, and countries (especially developing ones) would greatly benefit from us rejoining and putting money into this concept. Rejoining would also be a signal to the global community that one of the world’s biggest countries is ready to start fighting and invigorate countries to step up to the plate. However, it would be a mistake to say that the U.S., or any country for that matter, should stop here.


Climate change is one of the biggest issues of our generation, for reasons previously mentioned within this article. It follows, then, that we must have radical solutions to have any chance at mitigating the impending climate disaster. An entire reorganization of our economy is, unfortunately, necessary. Lots of people blame fossil fuel companies, and rightfully so, but not enough people talk about how much the meatpacking industry harms the environment. According to Carbon Brief, “Meat and dairy specifically account for around 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. If the world is to meet its target of limiting global warming to well below 2C, some degree of diet shift will be necessary.”


How you can help


As just discussed, if you can change your diet. You don’t have to be a full vegan, you can go meatless one day a week, only eat white meat or fish, etc. Any change can help. To add to that, be conscious of the choices you’re making when you buy a product, and what effect that might have on the environment. You aren’t to blame for the crisis, but at the point where our governments simply aren’t doing enough, it’s up to us to try and make some changes, even if they’re minor. Furthermore, you can petition the government to try and take more action. Listed below are several you can sign right now to raise awareness. Godspeed.


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