After climate agreement, focus turns to action in individual nations, green technology


The landmark climate change agreement approved by 195 countries on Saturday took six years and a lot of hard work and diplomacy to forge. The agreement did not go as far as many environmentalists and climate scientists had hoped, but most of them called it a positive first step. After the calamity of the 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen, "it was a wonderful surprise that... these 195 countries could come to an agreement more ambitious than anyone imagined," World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told The New York Times. "This never happens."
The climate pact has relative winners and losers — the U.S. got most of what it wanted, for example, while India got more of a mixed bag — but there are no legally binding carbon emission targets, and the plans submitted by 188 nations would still raise global temperatures to 2.7 to 3.5 degrees above preindustrial levels, according to one widely cited analysis, high above the 1.5 degree target set by the accord (currently, the Earth is nearing 1 degree). And the agreement won't come into force until at least 55 countries representing 55 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions formally sign on — all nations are invited to ceremonially sign the accord April 22 at the United Nations in New York.
Now, the focus shifts to research on new renewable energy technologies, moving rapidly developing nations like India away from a dependence on coal, and within each country, meeting the goals they have set for themselves. "Paris has delivered a plan," climate scientist Richard Allen at Britain's University of Reading tells The Wall Street Journal, "next begins the hard bit: action." That said, you can watch the moment the delegates and guests learned that the talks had succeeded, and a plan agreed to, in the video below. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Carney and Trump come face-to-face as bilateral tensions mount
IN THE SPOTLIGHT For his first sit-down with an unpredictable frenemy, the Canadian prime minister elected on a wave of anti-Trump sentiment tried for an awkward detente
-
What will be Warren Buffett's legacy?
Talking Points Observers call him 'the greatest investor of all time.'
-
Art review: "Wayne Thiebaud: Art Comes From Art"
Feature At the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, through Aug. 17
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement
speed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
-
Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff display
Speed Read The president was not happy with reports that Amazon would list the added cost from tariffs alongside product prices
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loom
Speed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panels
Speed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of business
Speed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pauses
Speed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocks
Speed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor deal
Speed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine