COP21 - A Primer

As the climate talks open in Paris today, we thought we’d give a quick primer to the discussions: what they are and why they are important.

What: From Climate Daily, “Almost 25 years ago United Nations delegates started cooking an international treaty to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions at a level that avoids dangerous climate change.” It started with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC, and several meetings called Conference of Parties, or COPs. This year’s is COP21. For a history of previous COPs, check out the infographic on Climate Daily’s site.

Who: According to CNN, “more than 40,000 delegates from 195 countries” (the parties or P in COP are the 195 countries) will be in attendance over the next week and a half. These include the leaders of the top three greenhouse gas emitting nations: China, the U.S., and India. President Obama spoke this morning at the opening of the talks in front of about 150 world leaders.

Why: That COP21 should occur in the warmest year on record may be enough to push these leaders to agree on reducing emissions to limit temperatures from rising 2° Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Let’s take a closer look at the current state of these emissions…

Global greenhouse gas emissions have reached an all time high, according to an article earlier this month in the New York Times. Levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions reached a record 400 parts per million last spring and levels of methane and nitrous oxide emissions hit high points last year. Burning fossil fuels for energy is a large contributor to these emissions and while some major economies have seen declines in these emissions over the past five years, globally, we’re not converting quickly enough to low carbon energy sources, according to the International Energy Agency. Some good news on this front: most U.S states have seen CO₂ emissions decrease over the past eight years, although thirteen states have increased CO₂ pollution over the past decade. Also, an editorial in Science earlier this month announced an agreement between oil producers: “Within the past few weeks, 10 oil producers, representing 20% of global production, have pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by curbing the flaring of natural gas and investing in carbon capture and storage. The best part of this announcement is the acknowledgment by energy giants BP, Pemex, Statoil, Saudi Aramco, Total, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group, Eni, Reliance Industries, and Repsol that climate change is a serious problem and that energy companies need to be part of the solution.”

Conclusion: Will world leaders agree to reduce emissions? What needs to happen in Paris before the meeting ends on December 11? What will happen afterward? What do you think?

We’ll continue to look at the meeting and more about climate change over the next week or two, so stay tuned.

Image: whitehouse.gov