Paris climate deal passes milestone as 20 more nations sign on without ‘the faintest idea how they’re going to achieve the goals’

Desdemona Despair

By Coral Davenport
21 September 2016

UNITED NATIONS (The New York Times) – More than 20 world leaders tendered legal documents on Wednesday, formally binding their governments to the Paris climate accord at a General Assembly ceremony here and all but ensuring that the agreement will go into force by the end of the year.

The specifics of each country’s plans, though, are voluntary. There are no sanctions for failing to control pollution or to put economic polices into practice, or for submitting unambitious pledges.

The legally binding portion of the Paris accord does little more than require governments to continue to convene at high-profile global climate summit meetings, make public pledges to tackle global warming at home and submit those plans to be published on a United Nations website. […]

In total, 60 countries representing 48 percent of global planet-warming emissions have now legally bound themselves to the Paris accord. The deal goes into legal force when at least 55 countries representing 55 percent of global emissions sign on. At Wednesday’s ceremony, leaders of countries representing at least an additional 12 percent of global emissions pledged to submit their legal documents by the end of this year. If they follow through, the pact will take effect. […]

“Obviously, ratifying Paris quickly is better than doing it slowly,” said Christoffer Ringnes Klyve, director of climate and environment programs at Future in Our Hands, a Norwegian advocacy group. “But there are lots of problems with the Paris agreement, and lots of problems with the countries that are ratifying it not having the faintest idea how they’re going to achieve the goals.” [more]

Paris Climate Deal Passes Milestone as 20 More Nations Sign On