The Paris Agreement
- Date
- 12 December 2015
- Category
- Politics & governance
- Region
- Paris, France (Global)
- Era
- Contemporary
- Significance
On 12 December 2015, at the COP21 climate conference in Paris, 195 nations adopted the Paris Agreement, the first truly universal climate accord binding both developed and developing countries.
Its central goal is to hold the rise in global average temperature to 'well below' 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. Rather than imposing top-down targets in the manner of Kyoto, Paris relies on 'nationally determined contributions'-emissions-reduction pledges each country sets itself-combined with a mechanism of regular review and progressive strengthening every five years, alongside commitments on climate finance for poorer nations. The agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016, unusually quickly for a major treaty. Although its pledges remained insufficient to meet its own temperature goals and the United States twice announced withdrawal under President Trump, Paris became the organising framework for global climate action and a benchmark against which national policies, corporate strategies and activist campaigns were measured.
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Related politics & governance events
- The end of apartheid and Nelson Mandela's election in South Africa27 April 1994 (election); 10 May 1994 (inauguration)
- Dissolution of the Soviet UnionAugust–December 1991
- German reunification3 October 1990
- Fall of the Berlin Wall9 November 1989
- Revolutions of 1989 across Eastern Europe1989 (Autumn of Nations)
- Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika1985–1991 (from 11 March 1985)
Also relevant
Further reading
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