The United States is the second-largest annual greenhouse gas emitter in the world, following China. According to PBS, China is responsible for emitting 10 million metric tons(of carbon dioxide) and The U.S is responsible for 5 million metric tons. As of right now developing countries and especially the United States most likely has the most responsibility to combat and take climate action to reduce the ever-changing environment of the Earth.

Climate change is caused by human activities. The use of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gases are the primary drivers of climate change. The biggest shift occurred during the Industrial Revolution when countries were using fossil fuels more for factories and companies. Deforestation as a result of the Industrial Revolution also contributed to climate change. The effect of climate change includes: the Earth’s temperature rising at an alarming rate. With the Earth warming, heatwaves in certain areas have occurred, droughts and sea levels are rising because of melting icebergs. Climate change also will severely affect our health in the long run. 

The Paris Agreement

As a way to combat climate change, the UNFCC proposed the Paris Agreement, which is an international treaty on climate change(Demchak). The treaty was adopted by almost all countries in 2015. The goal is to limit global warming as soon as possible. The targeted number to get the heart’s temperature down is below 1.5 C. 

In 2017, however, President Trump made the executive decision for the US to leave the Paris Agreement. This was a very detrimental decision considering the United States is one of the leading countries of the cause of climate change. The United States and China alone make up almost 50% of greenhouse gas emissions. Thankfully, President Joe Biden on his first day in office signed the US back into the Paris Agreement. Hopefully, the US can pick up where they last left and make the changes they initially agreed to make back when they first joined.

What are the Key Components of The Paris Agreement?

The agreement binds all countries involved to significantly cut their climate pollution and fully stick to their commitments. The biggest key component is to lower the Earth’s temperature. Countries plan to do this by reducing their carbon emission, most counties plan on cutting back their emissions by 30-40 %(Demchak). 

The agreement also includes mandatory measures that hold countries accountable and transparent. Countries must provide a report of their greenhouse gas progress and have it evaluated by experts. Developed countries have agreed to allocate to the developing countries that can’t help themselves. Most developing countries are small and have contributed the least amount to climate change yet they may suffer the most consequences if serious change doesn’t happen. So the Paris Agreement includes the Green Climate Fund to provide financial aid for poorer countries. 

Has the Agreement Been Successful?

The Paris agreement just recently met its five-year mark back in December. So far, experts have said that some countries have actually upheld their commitment to slow down the temperature rise. However, there hasn’t been a significant change. Still, a lot of countries have not kept their promises in the agreement. And for the agreement to fully work to combat climate change, all countries have to do their part and quickly. 

However, most climate analyses have stated even if countries strictly crack down on their promises, it is still not enough to see actual progress in climate change(CFR). The pledges the countries have made would not be enacted quickly enough and are not as ambitious as they should be to see serious change. 

 I think that countries, especially wealthy developed ones that rely heavily on their economy will not live up to their pledges fully. Countries like China, the United States, and the UK use millions of tons of fossil fuels for their economy. It will be hard for them to make actual progress in cutting down their carbon emission. Those countries would have to make serious changes in the way they operate their economies. Also, those developed countries have to help developing ones in order for the agreement to fully work and for all countries to be involved. However, a lot of developed countries don’t want to help or provide aid to poorer countries. This was one of the main reasons why the United States originally left the Paris Agreement under Trump’s Administration. It proved to be too costly for the US and it has been for other countries as well. However, I think the costs of climate inaction greatly outweigh the costs of working towards climate action. 

Are There Other Solutions?

I think the best solution for climate action is to focus on the action more locally than globally. It seems the most progress that has happened is happening outside the Paris Agreement. As for the agreement, the commitments are very broad for countries and they rarely have any accountability. It’s important to focus on small groups or sectors(CFR). In the US, many cities and large companies like Amazon and Starbucks have decided to make plans to invest in more carbon neutrality practices.  If smaller, local action takes place, hopefully, more global action will follow.

Works Cited:

February 19, 2021 Melissa Demchak. “Paris Climate Agreement: Everything You Need to Know.” NRDC, 19 Feb. 2021, http://www.nrdc.org/stories/paris-climate-agreement-everything-you-need-know#sec-costs.

“Global Climate Agreements: Successes and Failures.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, http://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/paris-global-climate-change-agreements#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20signed%20the,and%20later%20withdrew%20its%20signature.&text=Paris%20Agreement%2C%202015.,to%20set%20emissions%2Dreduction%20pledges.