At the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in December 2015, 195 countries adopted the Paris Agreement2. The landmark agreement, the first instrument of its kind, includes the goal of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change by “keeping the rise in global average temperature well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and striving to limit the temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” But we didn`t. We knew about climate change, there were scientists shouting in the face, but we didn`t turn the wheel. Global emissions have only increased since then. Since 1988, when climate scientist James Hansen first testified before Congress about the threat of climate change, humanity has released more CO2 into the atmosphere than in all of history. This rapid and far-reaching response, which is needed to keep warming below 1.5°C and improve the ability to adapt to climate risks, would require a sharp increase in investment in low-emission infrastructure and buildings, as well as a diversion of financial flows to low-emission investments (strong evidence, high approval). Between 2016 and 2035, the average additional annual investment is estimated at about 1.5% of global gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) for the energy sector and about 2.5% of global gross fixed capital formation for other development infrastructure that could also affect the implementation of the SDGs. While quality policy design and effective implementation can increase efficiency, they cannot completely replace these investments. {2.5.2, 4.2.1, 4.4.5} In order to combat climate change and its negative effects, 197 countries participated in the fight against climate change and its negative effects on 12 September. The Paris Agreement was adopted at COP21 in Paris in December 2015.
The agreement, which entered into force less than a year later, aims to significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and limit the rise in global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius this century, while looking for ways to further limit the increase to 1.5 degrees. President Trump is pulling us out of the Paris Climate Agreement. To “significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change,” the agreement calls for limiting the rise in global average temperature this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius while limiting the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It also calls on countries to strive to flatten global greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and to become climate neutral by the second half of this century at the latest. To achieve these targets, 186 countries responsible for more than 90% of global emissions presented carbon reduction targets, dubbed “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” (INDCs), ahead of the Paris conference. These targets outline each country`s commitments to reduce emissions (including by maintaining carbon sinks) by 2025 or 2030, including overall economic climate change targets and individual commitments from around 2,250 cities and 2,025 companies. The 2009 Copenhagen Accord mentions the long-term temperature goal of keeping global temperature increase “below 2 degrees Celsius” (UNFCCC 2010). A year later, the parties to the UNFCCC adopted the Cancun Agreements, which “further recognized that significant reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions are necessary to keep the rise in global average temperature below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.” This is what the CAT calls the Cancun 2°C target.
Although the impact on work is one of the most tangible and attributable climate impacts, our quantification of these impacts is inadequate and based on weak methods. This gap is partly due to the inability to resolve various impact channels such as changes in the distribution of time (labour supply) and slowdown in work (labour productivity). Explicitly addressing these issues in a multi-model comparative framework can help improve estimates of the impact of climate change on work efficiency. Unlike the Kyoto Protocol, which sets legally binding emission reduction targets (as well as sanctions for non-compliance) only for developed countries, the Paris Agreement requires all countries – rich, poor, developed and developing – to do their part and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To this end, greater flexibility is built into the Paris Agreement: the commitments that countries should make are not formulated differently, countries can voluntarily set their emission targets (NDCs) and countries are not subject to any penalty if they do not meet the proposed targets. .
