1. Discussion on the Paris Climate
Accord
Recent developments
Decoding the Agreement
History of climate agreements
Global Warming & Climate change
Drawbacks and Criticism
Key players in the deal
Role of US, China & India
Questions and Discussion

2. Recent Developments
Just yesterday the PM of India Mr. Modi announced that India
will ratify the deal on 2nd October
As many as 31 countries had formally joined the Agreement
through formal ratification or acceptance at a special event,
hosted by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
in New York, on September 21.
Notable among them were Brazil-the 7th biggest emitter,
Mexico, Argentina and the oil-rich UAE
On Sept 3, US and China the world's biggest emitters ratified
the deal
Opened for signature on 22 April 2016 (Earth Day) in a
ceremony in New York City. As of September 2016, 191
UNFCCC members have signed the treaty, 61 of which have
ratified it.
The language of the agreement was negotiated by
representatives of 195 countries at the 21st Conference of the
Parties of the UNFCCC in Paris and adopted by consensus on
12 December 2015

3. Decoding the Agreement
 AIM
 Article 2.1 Holding the increase in the global average
temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels
and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5
°C above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would
significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change
 Long term goal of zero GHG emissions
 Finance
 Article 9 1. Developed country Parties shall provide financial
resources to assist developing country Parties with respect
to both mitigation and adaptation in continuation of their
existing obligations under the Convention
 Setting up a fund of 100 billion $ per year after 2020 till
2025
 Increased transparency on how climate finance funds are
defined and where the money comes from and where it
goes

4. Legal Requirements
 Countries must publicly monitor, verify and report what they
are doing
 Publicly put forward detailed plans designed to create name
and shame system of global peer pressure hoping that
countries will not be willing to be seen as international laggards
 Ratchet mechanisms- Countries will have to periodically review
and increase their carbon cutting efforts
Punishment-
 If you don't do anything- Shame on you

5. Criticism and drawbacks of the
deal
The success of the system depends too much on the good
will of world leaders
Introduces a new, and mainly worrisome, model of
voluntary “nationally determined contributions” by
governments
political uncertainty about the future scope of action and a
lack of a clear price signal for carbon
On both the two high-profile issues that matter the most –
emission reductions and financial investments – there are
no new explicit numerical targets for individual countries
and no meaningful mechanism for ensuring accountability.

6.  The Paris Agreement does not anywhere dare use the
words “pledge” or “commitment.” So averse is the
agreement to anything that may be seen as too binding
that its announcement was delayed at the very last
minute as the United States insisted on replacing the
word ‘shall’ with ‘should’ in relation to the responsibility
of industrialized countries to mitigate the effects of
climate change (Article 4.4).
the new 1.5°C temperature target. No mention in
agreement as to how this might be achieved.

7. Trump vs Clinton Opposing views
 Donald J. Trump, has called climate change a hoax and
vowed to withdraw the United States from the Paris
agreement if he is elected
 Hillary Clinton is very supportive of the deal and has
vowed to put all efforts to implement it if elected to
power. And views climate change as a serious threat.

8.  “I applaud President Obama, Secretary Kerry and our negotiating
team for helping deliver a new, ambitious international climate
agreement in Paris. This is an historic step forward in meeting
one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century—the global
crisis of climate change.
 “The Paris agreement is testament to America’s ability to lead the
world in building a clean energy future where no one is left out or
left behind.
 “But we will only succeed if we redouble our efforts going forward
to drive innovation, increase investment, and reap the benefits of
the good-paying jobs that will come from transitioning to a clean
energy economy.
 “We cannot afford to be slowed by the climate skeptics or
deterred by the defeatists who doubt America’s ability to meet
this challenge. That’s why as President, I will make combating
climate change a top priority from day one, and secure
America’s future as the clean energy superpower of the
21st century.”

9.  "Any regulation that's out-dated, unnecessary, bad for
workers or contrary to the national interest will be
scrapped and scrapped completely," Mr Trump said.
 "We're going to do all this while taking proper regard for
rational environmental concerns."
 The climate change deal is "bad for US business" and
said the pact allows "foreign bureaucrats control over
how much energy we use".
 He has called climate change "a hoax" devised by the
Chinese government.

10. James Hansen- former NASA
scientist “It’s a fraud really, a fake. It’s just bullshit
for them to say: ‘We’ll have a 2C warming
target and then try to do a little better every
five years.’ It’s just worthless words. There
is no action, just promises. As long as
fossil fuels appear to be the cheapest fuels
out there, they will be continued to be
burned.”
Wants greenhouse gas emissions to be
taxed across the board. He argues that
only this will force down emissions quickly
enough to avoid the worst ravages of
climate change.
He has called for a price to be placed on
each tonne of carbon from major emitters

11. Craig Bennet CEO, friends of the
Earth
Craig Bennett, UK chief of Friends of the
Earth, was cautious. While he
acknowledged “the spirit of Paris” in
bringing countries together was positive
and could be built upon, he said in key
aspects it was inadequate.
“We have got to understand the limits of
Paris,” he said. “It is certainly not sufficient
[as an agreement]. If you judge it by the
science, it’s clearly not strong enough. It’s
also clearly not strong enough for poor
countries.”