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Ecology & Environment
Pradeep Kumar

21/02/21 09:00 AM IST

U.S. Officially Rejoins Paris Climate Agreement

In news

The United States officially rejoined the Paris Agreement on climate change designed to limit global warming and avoid its potentially catastrophic impacts.

Highlights
  • Nearly 200 nations have signed on to the landmark accord and committed to limit their greenhouse gas emissions in an attempt to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius - preferably below 1.5 degrees Celsius - compared to pre-industrial temperatures.
  • "The Paris Agreement is an unprecedented framework for global action. 
  • The Biden administration will make climate change a key component of its foreign policy, weaving it into its most important bilateral and multilateral conversations.
Background
  • The U.S. left the Paris Agreement in November after a yearlong waiting period had ended.
  • Former President Donald Trump originally announced his intention to withdraw from the treaty in 2017 and formally notified the United Nations in 2019.
Paris Agreement
  • The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016.
  • Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
  • To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate neutral world by mid-century.
  • The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
Source: Times of India

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