Keeping global average temperature below 2°C - What efforts are being made?

The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015 during the Conference of Parties (COP) in Paris, France, represents a historic commitment by 196 nations to combat climate change, advance sustainable development, and eradicate poverty.

In 2015, 196 countries convened in Paris, France, at the Conference of Parties (COP) to adopt the landmark Paris Agreement. This global accord aims to strengthen the response to climate change while promoting sustainable development and eradicating poverty. It builds upon earlier global initiatives, including the 1992 Earth Summit and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, all of which target the reduction of anthropogenic emissions that scientists agree are altering the planet’s climate systems.

Key Strategies of the Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement sets out three primary strategies to combat climate change:

1. Temperature Goals: The agreement aims to hold the global average temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with efforts to limit the rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Achieving this goal would significantly reduce climate risks and impacts.

2. Adaptation and Resilience: Nations commit to increasing their ability to adapt to adverse climate impacts and foster resilience while pursuing low greenhouse gas emission development. This must be achieved in a manner that does not jeopardize food production.

3. Financial Alignment: The agreement calls for aligning financial flows with pathways toward low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.

Progress and Challenges in Implementation

According to the 2022 United Nations Climate Change report, interventions are being implemented to cut global greenhouse gas emissions. However, these efforts remain insufficient to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Current commitments indicate emissions will increase by 10.6 percent by 2030, a slight improvement from the 13.7 percent projected in 2021 but still far from the necessary reductions.

Economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the challenge, with a resurgence in fossil fuel emissions driven by increased oil, coal, and gas consumption, as highlighted in the Global Carbon Budget Report.

The Financial Shortfall for Developing Countries

Developed countries pledged to provide $100 billion annually to support adaptation activities in developing countries, which are disproportionately vulnerable to climate impacts. Yet, reports indicate that adaptation finance remains between 20 and 25 percent of the committed concessional finance across all sources—a significant shortfall undermining the Paris Agreement’s goals.

This financial gap hampers the ability of developing countries to pursue low-carbon pathways and adapt to climate change. Many of these nations have made ambitious nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to reduce emissions, but their success depends on enhanced financial resources and support from developed countries.

The Urgency of Action

The evidence of climate change is undeniable: rising global temperatures, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, shifting seasons, and more frequent extreme weather events. Without increased efforts by the signatories of the Paris Agreement, the goal of keeping global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius will remain out of reach.

As Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, has emphasized, it is time for a transformational shift from negotiation to implementation. Concrete actions are needed to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, peak global emissions by 2030, and contribute to the 2050 target of net-zero emissions.

The stakes are high, and the time to act is now.