Blog Posts: Paris Agreement

Next month’s UN climate summit in Katowice, Poland (COP24) is seen by many as the most important climate negotiation since 2015, when 196 countries adopted the landmark Paris Agreement. COP24 is the critical moment for countries to establish rules for turning the Agreement's vision into reality.

Scientists say that global emissions must reach net-zero by mid-century to avoid the worst climate disasters. While G20 countries produce 75 percent of world's emissions, only a small handful have a plan for reducing them between now and 2050.

More than 7 million people die prematurely every year due to air pollution. Curbing short-lived climate pollutants like methane and black carbon can help while also reining in global warming.

From record-breaking temperatures to rampant wildfires, the signs of climate change are everywhere. Companies can respond by measuring their emissions, setting science-based targets to reduce them and pricing carbon.

Cinderella’s job in the household included cleaning the ashes from the fireplace – exactly the role forests play for Earth by absorbing fossil fuels' carbon emissions. Yet much like Cinderella, forests remain underappreciated.

Under the Paris Agreement, Parties have agreed to hold the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C. Mid-century, long-term low-GHG emission development strategies ("long-term strategies") underpin the transformative potential of the Paris Agreement.

Most climate change solutions focus on mitigation—ways to slash emissions as quickly as possible, such as by adopting renewable energy. But research shows these aren't enough. To prevent the worst impacts of climate change, the world will need to reach net-negative emissions, a point at which we're actually removing more carbon from the air than we're putting in.

The decisions each country, business and investor makes today will directly impact global climate and development goals. Do it right and we can feed 9 billion people, provide clean electricity for all and grow the economy while protecting the environment.

Toxic air pollution. Plastic-filled oceans. Sucking carbon from the skies. These are just a few of the stories that will shape 2018's legacy.

Every year, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) brings together scientists from around the world to measure the size of the greenhouse gas (GHG) “emissions gap,” the difference between the emissions level countries have pledged to achieve under international agreements and the level consistent with limiting warming to well below 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F).