Celebrate the Climate Agreement Entry Into Force! - November 4, 2016
 

All Systems Go for the Paris Climate Change Agreement ! !

Therefore, the agreement will enter into force on November 4, 2016 and everyone can celebrate. The speed with which the agreement has entered into force emphasizes just how much support climate action now has across the globe.

The UN's top climate official, Patricia Espinosa praised nations across the globe for acting swiftly to bring the landmark Paris Climate Change Agreement into force.

"This is a truly historic moment for people everywhere. The two key thresholds needed for the Paris Climate Change Agreement to become legal reality have now been met," said Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

"The speed at which countries have made the Paris Agreement's entry into force possible is unprecedented in recent experience of international agreements and is a powerful confirmation of the importance nations attach to combating climate change and realizing the multitude of opportunities inherent in the Paris Agreement," she said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: "Strong international support for the Paris Agreement entering into force is testament to the urgency for action, and reflects the consensus of governments that robust global cooperation is essential to meet the climate challenge."

In a speech in the Rose Garden, President Barack Obama pointed out, "Now, the Paris Agreement alone will not solve the climate crisis. Even if we meet every target embodied in the agreement, we'll only get to part of where we need to go. But make no mistake, this agreement will help delay or avoid some of the worst consequences of climate change. It will help other nations ratchet down their dangerous carbon emissions over time, and set bolder targets as technology advances, all under a strong system of transparency that allows each nation to evaluate the progress of all other nations. And by sending a signal that this is going to be our future -- a clean energy future -- it opens up the floodgates for businesses, and scientists, and engineers to unleash high-tech, low-carbon investment and innovation at a scale that we've never seen before. So this gives us the best possible shot to save the one planet we've got."
Click here to read the complete text of President Obama's remarks.

The Paris Agreement was adopted in Paris, France at the UN Climate Conference in December 2015. The terms of the agreement stipulated that in order to enter into force, at least 55 Parties accounting for at least 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions were required, with the Agreement then entering into force 30 days later.

Today (October 5, 2016), the UNFCCC secretariat tracker shows that the number of Parties that have ratified, accepted, or approved the Agreement now covers over 55% per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. This includes the biggest and smallest emitters, the richest and the most vulnerable nations.
We applaud the world's leaders who stand prepared to take action to save our only home!

Click here to read US Energy Secretary Moniz's statement

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Paris Climate Change Agreement Signed - December 12, 2015

Delegations from 195 countries, virtually every country on the planet, came together in Paris to agree on this historic document.

Each country agreed to implement its plan to hold the increase in global temperature "well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels". This is a more ambitious goal than had been expected.

Click here to read the full story.

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Lima Delegates Put Climate Action on Track to Paris in 2015 - December 14, 2014

Some 11, 000 delegates from 190 countries gathered in Lima, Peru for two week of climate negotiations. This great event was the Lima COP20 Conference, yet another gathering to move negotiations for a new Universal Climate Agreement forward. By the end of the two weeks of meetings, important agreements were reached, including:

• Pledges were made by developed and developing countries to increase the capitalization of the Green Climate Fund to more than $10 billion.
• Levels of transparency and trust were raised as several industrialized countries submitted to questions about their emissions targets.
• Countries were called to include climate change into school curricula and climate awareness in national development plans.
• The emphasis on adaptation was increased to the same level as mitigation (reduction) of the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions. Countries will be encouraged to submit National Adaptation Plans.

    Everyone went home feeling positive about prospect of making real progress in the coming year!
    Click here to read more.

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U.S. - China Joint Announcement on Climate Change - Beijing, China, November 12, 2014

• The Presidents of the United States and China announced their respective post-2020 actions on climate change, recognizing that these actions are part of the longer range effort to transition to low-carbon economies, mindful of the global temperature goal of 2^oC.

  The United States and China hope that by announcing these targets now, they can inject momentum into the global climate negotiations and inspire other countries to join in coming forward with ambitious actions as soon as possible.
  Click here to read the Whitehouse announcement.

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United Nations Climate Summit - September 23, 2014

At the Climate Summit in New York, at the invite of the UN Secretary-General, global leaders from Government, business, finance and civil society came together to announce bold commitments to action in eight areas that are critical for keeping global temperature increases to less than two degrees Celsius. The eight Action Areas are:
Agriculture | Cities | Energy | Financing | Forests | Industry | Resilience | Transportation

Click here to read the statements about each area and more from the UN's website.

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