Few countries that signed the landmark Climate Paris Accord are respecting what they promised, the United Nations’ 2018 Environment Program (UNEP) annual report confirmed. What can we expect from this year’s Madrid UN climate summit, when it is plain obvious the world won’t act in time to cut emissions?
Four years ago this month, almost two hundred nations agreed to “determine, plan, and regularly report” on the contribution each of them is undertaking to attenuate the effects of global warming. Moreover, one of the main goals of the agreement was “to keep global temperature rise this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels” –while it also called for urgent efforts to limit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Paradoxically however, no mechanism was agreed to force countries to set any specific target by any specific date. With no strict control, it is no surprise countries aren’t making the changes they promised.
In June 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was “pulling the United States out of the Paris agreement”, arguing he had been elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh and not Paris. To Trump’s frustration however, the accord requires a minimum of five years before any country can officially withdraw –the earliest effective date of withdrawal for the United States will be in November 2020, shortly before the end of Trump's term and at the doors of election.
