The Paris climate accord established basic emission-curbing standards. 80 countries want to do more.

Carbon emissions.
(Image credit: PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

It's about time for some good climate news.

About 80 countries have signaled they want to take bolder action toward curbing climate change, the United Nations announced Tuesday. These countries committed to a base level of environmental protections under the Paris climate accord, but seeing as that agreement won't prevent the worst effects of climate change, they're looking to do more, The New York Times reports.

2015's Paris accords brought hundreds of cities and countries together in a pledge to curb carbon emissions and keep global temperature rise under 2 degrees Celsius. It doesn't take effect until 2020, but about 80 unspecified countries are looking to up their commitment already, the U.N. said. The U.N. didn't specify just how much more climate action these countries were willing to take, but they're expected to announce their intentions at a September global summit, the Times continues.

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Tuesday's announcement is good news for the planet, seeing as a two-degree temperature rise would still devastate the Earth. Then again, the world isn't even on track to meet the current Paris agreement, as the Times pointed out at the end of 2018. And of course, the U.S. — one of the biggest carbon emitters out there — backed out of the 2015 Paris accords under President Trump. So it's unclear just how much this still-unspecified U.N. announcement will do to actually save the planet from certain human-caused climate disaster.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.