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| Wed, 21st Apr 2021 13:09:00 |
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Climate change: Have countries kept their promises? |
Agreed by 196 parties in the French capital in December 2015, the Paris climate deal aims to keep the rise in global temperatures this century "well below 2C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C." We look at five key countries and how well they have kept their promises.
Every one of the signatories to the Paris climate agreement has had to lodge a climate action plan with the UN to spell out what steps they are taking to curb carbon.
Overall, according to a new assessment from global consultancy Systemiq, low-carbon solutions have been more successful in this period than many people realise.
The growth in coal for energy outside of China has declined significantly.
"We have to translate what we can do into what we will do," said Lord Nicholas Stern, from the London School of Economics (LSE).
"But a big part of that is understanding what is happening and that's why I think this report is important. It will change people's perspectives of what is possible and translate that into action."
So the big picture might be improving, but what about individual nations? We looked at how five key countries have lived up to their promises under the pact.
As well as being the world's fifth largest economy, the UK is the incoming president of the Conference of the Parties or COP, the main UN climate negotiating forum, which will take place in Glasgow in November 2021.
This global gathering of world leaders will try and work out how to improve the collective effort to tackle climate change, and take the next steps. COP26 in Glasgow will be the most important meeting since the Paris climate agreement was signed five years ago.
The president of the meeting is a key influence on the success or failure of the event.
n Paris in 2015, French foreign minister Laurent Fabius was seen as a hugely effective, impartial leader who gained the trust of nations rich and poor.
UK Business Secretary Alok Sharma has already been tasked with the job by Boris Johnson, but already there are worries that he has too much on his plate.
Has the UK lived up to its promises?
The answer to this is mostly yes.
Since 2008, the UK government has had to set five-year greenhouse gas targets by law, based on advice from the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC).
Targets set under the first three carbon budgets have been met.
While it was part of the EU, the UK's target for 2020 was a reduction of 16% on 2005 emissions.
The UK easily achieved this. In fact, right now, Britain's total output of warming gases has gone down by around 45% from 1990 levels.
As a result of leaving the EU, the UK has to register its own standalone plan to cut carbon with the UN.
This is known as a "nationally determined contribution" or NDC.
It focuses on targets for 2030, which are meant to show the pathway to net zero emissions by 2050.
Reaching net zero requires that any carbon emissions are balanced by absorbing an equivalent amount from the atmosphere by, for example, planting trees.
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