The signing of the Paris Climate Agreement is the second-day record for signatures for a global agreement. The previous first-day record was set in 1982 when 119 states signed the Convention on the Law of the Sea. Many environmentalists around the world saw that it was great news that the signing of the Paris agreement is happening on Earth day, saying that this is a victory for the planet. No Plan B. We all had to sign, all of us, all countries, for our own sake and for the sustainability of the environment and of life on this planet.
“More countries have come together here to sign this agreement today than for any other cause in the history of human kind and that is a reason for hope,” actor and U.N. Messenger of Peace on climate change, Leonardo DiCaprio told the event, taking place on Earth Day.
“But unfortunately the evidence shows us that it will not be enough. Our planet cannot be saved unless we leave fossil fuels in the ground where they belong,” he said.
China-US Pledge
China and the United States, the world’s top producers of greenhouse gas emissions, pledged to formally adopt by the end of the year a Paris deal to slow global warming, raising the prospects of it being enforced much faster than anticipated.
The United Nations said 175 states took the first step of signing the deal on Friday, the biggest day one endorsement of a global agreement. Of those, 15 states also formally notified the United Nations that they had ratified the deal.
Many countries still need a parliamentary vote to formally approve the agreement, which was reached in December. The deal will enter into force only when ratified by at least 55 nations representing 55 percent of man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
China and the United States together account for 38 percent of global emissions.
“China will finalize domestic legal procedures on its accession before the G20 Hangzhou summit in September this year,” China’s Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli told the U.N. signing ceremony, attended by some 55 heads of state and government.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who signed the deal with his 2-year-old granddaughter Isabelle on his lap, said the United States “looks forward to formally joining this agreement this year.” President Barack Obama will formally adopt the agreement through executive authority.
“The era of consumption without consequences is over,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday. “We must intensify efforts to decarbonize our economies. And we must support developing countries in making this transition.”
Reason for Hope
Many developing nations are pushing to ensure the climate deal comes into force this year, partly to lock in the United States if a Republican opponent of the pact is elected in November to succeed Obama, a Democrat.
Once the accord enters into force, a little-noted Article 28 of the agreement says any nation wanting to withdraw must wait four years, the length of a U.S. presidential term.
The deal also requires rich nations to maintain a $100 billion a year funding pledge beyond 2020, providing greater financial security to developing nations to build their defenses to extreme weather and wean themselves away from coal-fired power.
“We need to mobilize the necessary financial resources,” French President Francois Hollande said. “We need to ensure that our words become actions.”
The U.N.’s previous climate deal, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol entered into force only in 2005. Kyoto dictated cuts in greenhouse gas emissions only for developed nations, unlike the Paris Agreement which involves both rich and poor but lets all countries set national targets.
46 Environmental Victories Since the First Earth Day
On the other hand, and on the occasion of Earth Day, the National Geographic posted an article about 46 environmental victories since the first Earth Day. It was great seeing the Climate agreement be one of those victories.
The victories, according to National Geographic are:
1. 1970 “Environmental Magna Carta”
2. 1972 Notorious Toxic Chemical Banned
4. 1972 Cleaning Up Rivers
5. 1972 Marine Sanctuaries Created
6. 1972 Saving Whales
7. 1973 Saving Species
8. 1975 Global Agreement on Endangered Species
Thanks to conservation efforts, bald eagles were removed from the Endangered Species List in 1995. PHOTOGRAPH BY KLAUS NIGGE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE
and many more victories, posted on National Geographic website.
NASA’s views of Earth on Earth Day
The impact of the first Earth Day was bigger than anyone had imagined. That one day had led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts — all by the end of the year.
NASA is also encouraging people around the world to participate by posting a photo or short video to social media with the hashtag #24seven.
In past years, NASA has received tens of thousands of responses via social media from over 145 countries and territories around the world.
NASA is also asking people to share some pictures or videos of their favorite places on Earth using the hashtag #NoPlaceLikeHome. NASA will be sharing their view of Earth, and they are encouraging people around the world to share what their view is like.
