Greenpeace cautiously welcomes Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement on climate control is a step on long a road, and there are frustrating and disappointing parts, but it is progress, Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said on Sunday.
“It sometimes seems that the countries of the United Nations can unite on nothing, but nearly two hundred countries have come together and agreed a deal,” he said in a statement.
The human race had joined in a common cause, but it was what happened after the conference that really mattered.
“The Paris Agreement is only one step on long a road, and there are parts of it that frustrate and disappoint me, but it is progress. This deal alone won’t dig us out the hole we’re in, but it makes the sides less steep,” Naidoo said.
One-hundred-and-ninety-five countries at the 21st Conference of Parties (COP 21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted the historic agreement in Paris on Saturday to address greenhouse gas emission for the post-2020 period, while increasing countries’ ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change.
The agreement aims to limit global warming to “well below” two degrees Celsius, with a promise of “efforts” to try to keep it below 1.5 degrees.
Naidoo said the deal set out the objective of limiting temperature rises to 1.5 degrees, but the emissions targets on the table “take us closer to three degrees”.
“That’s a critical problem, but it’s one with a solution. Renewable energy is already doing heavy-lifting across the globe, but now its moment must come. It’s the only technology mentioned in the Paris Agreement. There’s a yawning gap in this deal, but it can be bridged by clean technology.
“We’re in a race between the roll-out of renewables and rising temperatures, and the Paris Agreement could give renewables a vital boost. The wheel of climate action turns slowly, but in Paris it has turned,” he said.
“This is not a moment for triumphalism given the lives that have been lost already as a result of climate impacts, and the lives that are on the precipice as temperatures rise. This is a time for urgent action. The climate clock is ticking and the window of opportunity is closing fast,” Naidoo said.