{"id":16901,"date":"2015-12-13T09:02:31","date_gmt":"2015-12-13T17:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/historic-pact-to-slow-global-warming\/"},"modified":"2015-12-13T09:02:31","modified_gmt":"2015-12-13T17:02:31","slug":"historic-pact-to-slow-global-warming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/historic-pact-to-slow-global-warming\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic pact to slow global warming"},"content":{"rendered":"

LE BOURGET, France \u2014 <\/strong>Nearly 200 nations adopted the first global pact to fight climate change on Saturday, calling on the world to collectively cut and then eliminate greenhouse gas pollution but imposing no sanctions on countries that don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The \u201cParis agreement\u201d aims to keep global temperatures from rising another degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) between now and 2100, a key demand of poor countries ravaged by rising sea levels and other effects of climate change.<\/p>\n

Loud applause erupted in the conference hall after French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius gaveled the agreement. Some delegates wept, others embraced.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a victory for all of the planet and for future generations,\u201d U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, adding that the pact will \u201cprevent the worst most devastating consequences of climate change from ever happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brazilian Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira added: \u201cToday, we\u2019ve proven that it\u2019s possible for every country to come together, hand in hand, to do its part to fight climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the pact, the countries pledge to limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to the levels that trees, soil and oceans can absorb naturally, beginning at some point between 2050 and 2100.<\/p>\n

In practical terms, achieving that goal means the world would have to stop emitting greenhouse gases \u2014 most of which come from the burning of oil, coal and gas for energy \u2014 altogether in the next half-century, scientists said. That\u2019s because the less we pollute, the less pollution nature absorbs.<\/p>\n

Achieving such a reduction in emissions would involve a complete transformation of how people get energy, and many activists worry that despite the pledges, countries are not ready to make such profound, costly changes.<\/p>\n

The deal now needs to be ratified by individual governments \u2014 at least 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of global emissions \u2014 before taking effect. It is the first pact to ask all countries to join the fight against global warming, representing a sea change in U.N. talks that previously required only wealthy nations to reduce their emissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistory will remember this day,\u201d U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said. \u201cThe Paris agreement on climate change is a monumental success for the planet and its people.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Barack Obama said the climate agreement offers \u201cthe best chance to save the one planet we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

The deal commits countries to keeping the rise in global temperatures by the year 2100 compared with pre-industrial times \u201cwell below\u201d 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and says they will \u201cendeavor to limit\u201d them even more, to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The world has already warmed by about 1 degree Celsius since pre-industrial times.<\/p>\n

Ben Strauss, a sea level researcher at Climate Central, said limiting warming to 1.5 degrees instead of 2 degrees could potentially cut in half the projected 280 million people whose houses will eventually be submerged by rising seas.<\/p>\n

More than 180 countries have ready presented plans to limit greenhouse gas emissions\u2014 a breakthrough in itself after years of stalemate. But those pledges are not enough to achieve the goals in the accord, meaning countries will need to cut much more to meet the goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve agreed to what we ought to be doing, but no one yet has agreed to go do it,\u201d said Dennis Clare, a negotiator for the Federated States of Micronesia. \u201cIt\u2019s a whole lot of pomp, given the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agreement sets a goal of getting global greenhouse gas emissions to start falling \u201cas soon as possible\u201d; they have been generally rising since the industrial revolution.<\/p>\n

It says wealthy nations should continue to provide support for poor nations to cope with climate change and encourages other countries to pitch in on a voluntary basis. That reflects Western attempts to expand the donor base to include advanced developing countries such as China.<\/p>\n

In a victory for small island nations, the agreement includes a section highlighting the losses they expect to incur from climate-related disasters that it\u2019s too late to adapt to. However, a footnote specifies that it \u201cdoes not involve or provide any basis for any liability or compensation\u201d \u2014 a key U.S. demand because it would let the Obama administration sign on to the deal without going through the Republican-led Senate.<\/p>\n

The adoption of the agreement was held up for nearly two hours as the U.S. pressed successfully to change the wording on emissions targets from saying developed countries \u201cshall\u201d commit to reducing emissions to they \u201cshould.\u201d Experts said that means the deal probably won\u2019t need U.S. congressional approval.<\/p>\n

Nicaragua said it would not support the pact. Its envoy, Paul Oquist, said the agreement does not go far enough to cut global warming and help the poor countries affected by it.<\/p>\n

Nicaragua is one of eight participating countries that haven\u2019t submitted emissions targets, after Venezuelan envoy Claudia Salerno said her country \u2014 which had been holding out \u2014 liked the agreement and had submitted its pledge.<\/p>\n

Thousands of protesters demonstrated across Paris, saying the accord is too weak to save the planet. People held hands beneath the Eiffel Tower and stretched a two-kilometer-long (1.2-mile-long) banner from the Arc de Triomphe to the business district La Defense.<\/p>\n

Kumi Naidoo of Greenpeace said the accord is a good start but isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday the human race has joined in a common cause, but it\u2019s what happens after this conference that really matters,\u201d he said. \u201cThis deal alone won\u2019t dig us out the hole we\u2019re in, but it makes the sides less steep.\u201d<\/p>\n

The accord does represent a breakthrough in climate negotiations. The U.N. has been working for more than two decades to persuade governments to work together to reduce the man-made emissions that scientists say are warming the planet.<\/p>\n

The previous emissions treaty, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, included only rich countries and the U.S. never signed on. The last climate summit, in Copenhagen in 2009, ended in failure when countries couldn\u2019t agree on a binding emissions pact.<\/p>\n

The talks were initially scheduled to end Friday but ran over as Western powers, tiny Pacific island nations and everyone in between haggled over wording.<\/p>\n

The main dispute centered over how to anchor the climate targets in a binding international pact, with China and other major developing countries insisting on different rules for rich and poor nations. The agreement struck a middle ground, removing a strict firewall between rich and poor nations and saying that expectations on countries to take climate action should grow as their capabilities evolve. It does not require them to do so.<\/p>\n

Some scientists who had criticized earlier drafts as unrealistic praised the final pact for including language that essentially means the world will have to all but stop polluting with greenhouse gases by 2070 to reach the 2-degree goal, or by 2050 to reach the 1.5-degree goal.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because when emissions fall, nature compensates by absorbing less carbon dioxide \u2014 and can even release old pollution once there\u2019s less of it in the air, said Princeton University\u2019s Michael Oppenheimer. Forests, oceans and soil currently absorb about half the world\u2019s man-made carbon dioxide emissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means that in the end, you have to phase out carbon dioxide,\u201d said John Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.<\/p>\n

In addition to the cuts in emissions, the goal could be reached in part by increasing how much carbon dioxide is sucked out of the air by planting forests or with futuristic technology, Oppenheimer said, but added such technology would be expensive.<\/p>\n

French President Francois Hollande welcomed the world to a \u201clow carbon age,\u201d saying France is ready to cut emissions even further and increase aid to poor countries that are affected. He challenged all nations to do more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 12th of December, 2015, will remain a great date for the planet,\u201d Hollande declared. \u201cIn Paris, there have been many revolutions over the centuries. Today it is the most beautiful and the most peaceful revolution that has just been accomplished \u2014 a revolution for climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Angela Charlton, Andy Drake and Matthew Lee contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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