Take a Glance at Legislation

November 27, 2020
Energy
by opd5018

Laws. They control many aspects of our lives and are necessary in order to sustain societies as we know them to be today. However, minus a few major exceptions, discussions about legislation, in every day life as well as the news, typically do not focus on climate change laws in depth.

These climate change laws are affecting international production, the automotive industry, and how our homes consume energy. Climate change legislation is also a reflection on the possibilities of international cooperation between developed as well as developing nations.

Climate change legislation will affect the future of industry, transportation, and development for the next century to come- so don’t you think you should know how and why?

Here is a quick glimpse at two of the most important pieces of international legislation as well as what there is to look forward to!

Kyoto Protocol

Before examining the Kyoto Protocol of 1997, it is crucial that one understands who the COP is. The COP is a global group known as the Conference of the Parties, which currently has 197 members (countries).

The main purpose of the Conference of the Parties is to “review the national communications and emission inventories submitted by Parties” (UNFCCC). The Conference of Parties also helped to establish a branch of the United Nations known as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Kyoto Protocol was established in response to rising greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere which many felt was contributing to climate change. This agreement required the reduction of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other carbon compounds. Each country agreed to an unique reduction level, in comparison to their emissions in 1990.

The agreement also split the members into two groups: Annex 1, developed countries, and Annex 2, developing countries. By doing this, the Kyoto Protocol allows Annex 2 countries to continue to develop without mandatory restrictions/reductions.

The Kyoto Protocol also established emissions trading as a viable method for countries to reduce the cost of meeting reduction levels (What is the Kyoto Protocol). This was considered a positive thing for the United States, as the US already implements emissions trading, but the United States never ratified the Kyoto Protocol.

Paris Agreement

In 2015, members of the UNFCCC convened to introduced the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement was ratified in November of 2016 and has currently been ratified by 189 out of the 197 states in the UNFCCC (Paris Agreement- Status of Ratification).

The Paris Agreement’s main focus was on pursing methods to stabilize global temperature. The agreement “reaffirms the goal of limiting global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius, while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees.”

The Paris Agreement also discussed the protection of carbon sinks, the proliferation of climate change education, the encouragement of mitigation strategies and the production of new technology (EGEE 101 Lessons).

The Paris Agreement was one of the most innovative international cooperation efforts and made headlines around the world! President Obama made the US a signatory by ratifying the agreement in 2016 by means of a executive order. However, Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement on June 1, 2017, which earned a lot of criticism from the Democratic party as well as several other countries and their leaders.

What to Look Forward To

During the 2020 campaign season, the Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden announced that one of his first actions, if he was elected, was to rejoin the Paris Agreement. As a result of the election, Joe Biden is currently the president elect which means that our return to the agreement may become a reality!

Another positive thing to look forward to is that, since the Conference of the Parties meeting for 2020 was postponed due to Covid-19, COP26 has been rescheduled for 2021. Why is this good news? If President elect Biden is inaugurated in January and rejoins the Paris Agreement, the results of COP26 could possibly be extremely productive.

In general, despite whoever is the next president of the United States, the COP26 meeting should produce positive results regarding legislation, international cooperation, and technology!

One must also look forward to the actions of our youth- climate change is becoming a prominent issue and they are the ones helping to keep it on the main stage. Finally, we must look forward to improvements in technology and science, whether it relates to our industries, our modes of transportation, or how we receive electricity.