Paris Agreement is toothless and has no mechanisms to enforce actions, and therefore will have little impact. Discuss critically.

The Paris Agreement was drafted in 2015 and signed in 2016, within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change related to greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance. Iran and Turkey are the only two countries, decided not to join the agreement even after being a significant emitter.

Objectives:

• Maintaining the increase in the average temperature to below 2 °C
• Limiting the increase of temperature due to climate change to 1.5 °C
• Reducing the emission of greenhouse gas
• Climate-resilient development and maintaining uninterrupted finance flow

Emitter list: China is the top emitter of CO2 in the world (About 10 Metric gigatons in a year). China is followed by the United States, India, Russia, Japan, and Germany.

Problems:

• Some of the industrialized nations are not following the emission norms as decided according to the agreement. For example, a recent study showed China is likely to surpass its emission limit even after the time-bound fixed as per the agreement.
• The agreement is like promises and not a strong commitment to being followed. No action has been taken so far in many signatory countries.
• No tax on carbon emission is being levied. So the parties are not keen to take the necessary steps to reduce the carbon emission.
• The parties who are neglecting the agreement, are not subject to face any negative consequences for the violation of the norms.
• No regulatory body is there to check the accountability of the parties.

Since the time of its implementation, global carbon emissions have increased by about 4% and other types of emissions have also shown an increasing trend. It is clear the agreement failed to reach its target.

Way out: All the rules and regulations have to be bound by law. An immediate introduction of the carbon tax is needed. A company needs to be established to supervise the activities of the parties. Financial assistance has to be provided to needy countries to stop using cheap fuel. Considering all, effective implementation is surely possible.

Topics: GS-IV: Ethics and Human Interface