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Egyptian Environment Minister Khaled Fahmy spoke on Saturday night after the agreement was adopted on behalf of the Egyptian African group. “We agree that this is a historic agreement that has important consequences for our countries. This agreement brings us to a new era of global climate policy, for climate justice and for our people,” he said. At the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Summit, developed countries pledged to mobilize $100 billion a year for a Green Climate Fund to help poor countries transition to a low-carbon future. This year, the agreement to deliver $100 billion a year to developing countries from 2020 is legally proposed. However, some crucial elements, such as the emission control commitments made by some countries, are voluntary. This legally binding agreement obliges all countries to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, with different deadlines and ambitions, depending on the level of development they currently have. The agreement has achieved an overall temperature change target of “well below 2°C”, but more ambitious countries are encouraged to reduce their emissions in line with the 1.5°C mark. For the Moroccan delegation, which will host in a year`s time, the agreement is generally a good deal, which has managed to find the right compromises on very delicate issues. Mohamed Ben Yehia, a Moroccan negotiator, believes that the Paris agreement “left no one behind”, but it is ambiguous in some respects.
“The 1.5 target is mentioned in the text as an aspiration” and is therefore not legally binding, he said. Regarding climate finance, he added that Morocco preferred clear figures, targets and a roadmap that the agreement does not provide. Jordanian climate activist Safa`Jayoussi, who leads the climate campaign for IndyAct and is coordinator of CAN Arab World, says the work is not done and it`s time to increase zero-emission ambitions and reach 100% renewable energy by mid-century. “About 195 countries signed this bid agreement, including the Arab Group, which finally came out and showed that it had heard from civil society in the MENA region,” she said. On 4 November 2019, the United States notified the depositary of its withdrawal from the Agreement, which will take effect exactly one year after that date. [30] Both the EU and its Member States are individually responsible for ratifying the Paris Agreement. A strong preference was expressed for the EU and its 28 Member States to deposit their instruments of ratification simultaneously to ensure that neither the EU nor its Member States commit to obligations belonging exclusively to each other[21], and some feared that there would be disagreement on each Member State`s share of the EU-wide reduction target. Just like the British vote to leave the EU, the Paris Pact could be delayed. [22] However, on 4 October 2016, the European Parliament approved the ratification of the Paris Agreement[23] and the EU deposited its instruments of ratification on 5 October 2016 with several EU Member States.
[22] “Paris is just the beginning,” Jayoussi said.