If the United States joined the agreement, it would be technically necessary to implement an NDC within 30 days. The EU has been at the forefront of international efforts to combat climate change. It played an important role in mediating the Paris Agreement and continues to play a leading role at the global level. The Paris Conference was the 21st meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), known as COP 21. The conference concluded a round of negotiations that began in 2011 in Durban, South Africa, with the aim of concluding a new legal agreement between national governments to strengthen the global response to climate change. 150 heads of state and government participated in the opening day of the conference. At the end of COP 21 (the 21st meeting of the conference of the parties at the conference chairing the conference), on 12 December 2015, the final text of the Paris Agreement was adopted by all 195 participating UNFCCC member states and by the European Union[4] to reduce emissions under the method of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In the 12-language agreement,[54] members promised to reduce their carbon emissions ”as soon as possible” and do their best to keep global warming ”well below 2 degrees Celsius.” [63] It will also allow the parties to gradually strengthen their contributions to the fight against climate change in order to achieve the long-term objectives of the agreement. Specific results of increased attention to adjustment financing in Paris include the announcement by the G7 countries of $420 million for climate risk insurance and the launch of a Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) initiative. [51] In 2016, the Obama administration awarded a $500 million grant to the ”Green Climate Fund” as ”the first part of a $3 billion commitment made at the Paris climate talks.” [52] [53] [54] To date, the Green Climate Fund has received more than $10 billion in commitments.
The commitments come mainly from developed countries such as France, the United States and Japan, but also from developing countries such as Mexico, Indonesia and Vietnam. [33] Countries most affected by the effects of climate change will be nations deeply vulnerable to sea level rise and developing countries that do not have the resources to adapt to changes in temperature and precipitation. But prosperous nations like the United States are also increasingly vulnerable. In fact, millions of Americans – especially children, the elderly and the poor – are already suffering from the wrath of climate change. Nicolas Holiber`s old wood carvings highlight the threat that climate change poses to bird towns. The long-term objective of the Paris Agreement is to keep the increase in global average temperature well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels; and to continue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, while acknowledging that this would significantly reduce the risks and effects of climate change. This should require a rapid reduction in emissions to achieve ”a balance between anthropogenic emissions from sources and the reduction of greenhouse gases from wells” in the second half of the 21st century.
