In case you collegiettes have not noticed, which I am 100% sure you have because I see girls on campus without tights on, it is scary warm outside for December. As in, I went outside in just a sweater yesterday. Considering this is the Great White North, I am getting kind of scared for my non-existent children’s future.
Let us take a walk down memory lane, where we hopefully don’t slip on ice, to remember what we were trudging through to get to the library and exams at this time of last year:
And what you are currently seeing when you exit your front door:
December 10, 2014 vs. December 7, 2015
Sorry guys, I had to do it. I had to remind all of us of what we should be living in right now.
For this reason, the annual United Nations Climate Conference that began last month in Paris and will continue until December 11 is especially pertinent. I mean, it has barely hit the negatives people!
The conference’s overarching goal is to meet once a year to discuss the progress that has been made in combatting climate change; this all began after the Kyoto Protocol in 1992. There, it was negotiated that so-called developed countries should have legal obligations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Sadly, this has yet to be drafted and ratified. However, I am staying optimistic as the objective for this year’s conference is to finally have a universal agreement on climate, which all nation-states are bound by. Though this has not been accomplished in the last 21 years the conference has been held, we can all cross our fingers because our planet is melting!
Climate change has really begun to take a front-seat in regards to countries’ major concerns. Several of the candidates in this year’s election made it a significant part of their platform. However, for good reason, many seem to be pointing fingers at the U.S. and China, stating that leaps and bounds in meeting the goal global temperature- 2°C above pre-industrial levels- cannot be accomplished without their cooperation. Both countries are the world’s leaders in carbon dioxide emissions; far ahead of any other country. As in, they both produce more than the entire European Union, with China at 30% of the world’s greenhouse gas emission and the U.S. at 16%. Without intervention, it is anticipated that the global temperature will double within the next century compared to what it was in the last. So basically no more polar bears, much more violent hurricanes, more floods and droughts, a sinking Manhattan (slightly kidding) and many bad things we want to avoid!
This year, 150 nations are going to be in attendance as the framework for the post-2020 emission reductions gets drafted. While there is a spectrum of opinions regarding climate change, from optimism to calamitous warnings, world leaders have proposed and promised change. Trudeau is planning to double research and development regarding energy technology within the next five years. President Obama, President Hollande and Bill Gates have announced that they will be launching ‘Mission Innovation’, a clean technology initiative. Nineteen governments, such as Saudi Arabia and South Korea, and twenty-eight world investors, like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Jack Ma of Alibaba, are involved in Mission Innovation. For its involvement in the project, Canada will be investing $100 million a year in clean technology and $200 million to support the use of clean technologies in the natural resources sector.
Perhaps the most unforeseen and remarkable part of the conference has been the pledges by countries such as the United States, Canada, France, and India that they will help developing countries cope with climate change, adapt their technologies to be greener, and reduce their emissions. Though it has not yet been outlined exactly how this will be accomplished, Trudeau is putting $2.65 billion into the initiative over a five-year period. As he stated, “many of the world’s most vulnerable countries have done little to contribute to the problem, but face the most significant consequences” (National Observer).
Update as of Dec 13, 2015: I told you guys to stay optimistic! As the conference has concluded, an agreement has been reached!! Described by President Obama as a “landmark agreement” that could be a “turning point for the world”, this agreement is said to be the solution to the increasing global temperature. The biggest issue addressed in the agreement is that it limits the average global warming temperature to 2°C above pre-industrial temperatures. Though some issues, such as stating exactly how much each country needs to reduce is greenhouse gas emissions, have not been addressed thus far, world leaders remain optimistic as this is a huge step forward. It is, however, worth noting that just because a consensus was reached, that does not been all 196 parties present approved it. Countries must now individually ratify it; 55 countries need to ratify it for the agreement to be enforced, and those countries must make up for 55% of total global greenhouse gas emissions (aka get on it U.S and China). Alas, there is (some) hope for our planet!
For steps you can take to help combat global warming and save our planet, click here.
Images obtained from:
Some images are the author’s own.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/paris-climate-change-conference-1.3343125
https://www.yatzer.com/global-warming-effect-art-design-because-world-me…