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BackThe Global Climate Deal, which was signed in Paris last year, can now come into force: on Tuesday, 4th October, the European Parliament voted with an overwhelming majority to ratify it. Some days earlier, on 30th September, the Environment Ministers of the EU Member States unanimously decided to implement it in all countries and in doing so cleared the way for Parliament to cast its vote. This is important to ensure that the EU as a whole can take steps against climate change, as a significant part thereof falls into its authority.
Once China, India and the USA had ratified the Agreement, the EU came under pressure
Hence, on Friday, 7th October, the EU, with those seven Member States that have already ratified the Agreement, among them Austria, will officially present UN with its decision. The pressure had increased after China, India, the US and over 60 other countries had already done so. The Agreement states that it will officially enter into force as soon as 55 signatory countries which together are responsible for 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions have ratified it. This 55% mark has been exceeded with the EU, which means that the EU at the forthcoming climate conference in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh will retain its status as a contracting party, which, if that progress had not been made this week, it would have almost lost.
Yet the EU had for a long time been a pioneer of climate policy and France, as the host nation of the negotiations, had been of vital importance for their success. The Agreement shall work in such a way that each country decides for itself which targets it wants to achieve at what pace and makes those goals known to the UN. Furthermore, these targets will be reviewed every five years and new goals shall be set, which, however, have to be stricter than the existing ones. In contrast to the Kyoto Protocol penalties are not intended; the Kyoto Protocol had shown that they are very difficult to enforce – Canada, for example, opted out after a while. Another significant difference is that this time developing and emerging countries are introducing climate protection measures as well, which is important for the success of the Agreement, as in 2014 they were already responsible for over 60% of greenhouse gas emissions. Hence, industrial countries by themselves are no longer capable of reducing global warming to the planned two degrees Celsius - compared to the pre-industrial period - which are regarded as the absolute limit for our environment. The Agreement lays down 1.5 degrees as the ideal target, whereby the global climate today is already 0.85 degrees warmer than before industrialisation.
EU to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% until 2030 – other countries have different targets
The concrete pledges differ from country to country and it is debatable whether the present ones will be sufficient. The US for example has announced to reduce her greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025, compared to 2005. China, on the other hand, wants to generate 20% of her primary energy from renewable sources and to prevent a further increase of her CO2 emissions from 2030 onward. The EU has committed itself in the name of its members to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030, compared to 1990; however, internal negotiations are required as to how this shall be actually implemented. For this there is a little more time, though, since, even though the Agreement is coming into force now, it only becomes legally binding in 2020.
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