December 12
An important agreement on the future living environment of all mankind will celebrate the fifth anniversary on December 12, 2020. This agreement, which represents the joint “sworn” of more than 190 countries and regions around the world, was born in a severe situation of increasing global climate change.
This is the Paris Agreement, which was born with applause, and a year later encountered the “betrayal” of the only country, the United States.
The United States officially withdrew from the agreement on November 4, 2020, after U.S. President Trump issued a “retreat” statement.
However, as the situation changes in the U.S. election at the end of the year, the situation seems to have turned around. U.S. President-elect Biden has promised to “return to the Paris Agreement” on his first day in office.
In the end, can this agreement return to its original appearance?
[Five years later, the United States became the only country to “go backwards”]
Five years ago, on December 12, accompanied by the sentence “I can’t see anyone who opposes?” Fabius, then President of the United Nations Climate Change Paris Conference, knocked on the green hammer in his hand, and the Paris Agreement was officially adopted, with a minute-long applause.
The entry into force of the Paris Agreement is regarded as a “historic victory” of global climate governance. U.S. President Obama said that “this is the best opportunity to save our planet”; then British Prime Minister Cameron also said that it marked a “great step” to protect the future of the planet.
According to the agreement, countries should limit the increase of global average temperature in this century to 2 degrees Celsius and try to control it to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Unexpectedly, before many details of the agreement were agreed, the Trump administration, one of the important parties, announced that it would stop implementing the Paris Agreement just one year after the agreement was reached.
At that time, the warm scene of former U.S. Secretary of State Kerry signing the agreement with his granddaughter was still vivid.
According to the requirements of the agreement, the United States can officially start the “group withdrawal” process on November 4, 2019, and the whole withdrawal process will take one year.
So far, the United States is the first and only country to “turn up” among the more than 190 countries that have signed the Paris Agreement.
“Between dealing with climate issues and the real economic interest and the support of oil and energy companies, the Trump administration chose the latter.” Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the School of Foreign Affairs, said in an interview with Chinanews.com.
He pointed out that Trump said, on the surface, “the agreement imposes an unfair economic burden on taxpayers”, but it is actually “America first, economy first”.
In analyzing the impact of the “degrouping” of the United States, the BBC also said that the United States, as a major greenhouse gas emitter, does not effectively meet its emission reduction commitments, greatly reducing the effectiveness of concerted global efforts.
“The gloom of the Madrid Climate Summit in 2019 is one of the visible effects of the United States’ withdrawal from the group.” Tao Wenqian, a researcher at the American Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out in an interview that “the summit was fruitless at the last conference before the United States officially ‘retreated’ from the group, because the U.S. government was unwilling to take the lead in taking responsibility.”
[Climate change makes the earth “high fever”! Floods, hurricanes, droughts…]
On the same day that the United States officially withdrew from the Paris Agreement, wildfires in Orange County, California, were burning. Two firefighters were admitted to the hospital with severe burns, and the place where the wildfires hit them were scorched…
The county fire chief said, “the fire spread more than I have seen in 44 years.”
In fact, in the past few years, extreme weather events such as floods, hurricanes and droughts have occurred frequently around the world. In the summer of 2020, the plum rainy season in central South Korea lasted for more than 50 days, setting a record for the longest plum rainy season.
South Korea’s meteorological department believes that it is the high temperature in the Arctic that causes the extension of the plum rainy season.
At the same time, the earth’s “high fever does not subside”. At the end of July, Canada’s last complete polar ice shelf collapsed; on the other side of the earth, Sydney, Australia, experienced the hottest November night in 160 years.
The World Meteorological Organization warns that climate change is still going on, and 2020 will be one of the hottest three years on record, and 2011-2020 will be the hottest decade on record.
The United States, contrary to the Paris Agreement, has not lived a lighter life.
From the 2018 Camp fire that killed 86 people and the town of Paradise was torched, to the California wildfires “burned 16 New York areas” in 2020, the wildfire season in the United States has intensified. Scientists say that climate change is driving the scale and impact of recent California wildfires, and all of this urgently needs human intervention to “froze and cool down” the United States.
In fact, since withdrawing from the agreement, the Trump administration has been “untied” on many environmental policies.
Statistics show that between 2017 and 2019 alone, the Trump administration abandoned at least 128 environmental regulations, including relaxing car combustion regulations, repealing the Clean Power Plan, and relaxing pollutant emission restrictions for coal-fired power plants.
[Biden wants to carry out “climate diplomacy” and the United States will “return” to the agreement?]
Today, Biden is expected to receive 306 electoral votes in the 2020 U.S. election and is expected to officially enter the White House in January 2021. The turning point between the United States and the Paris Agreement has also reappeared.
Biden has said that on his first day in office, he will promote the United States to rejoin the Paris Agreement.
Unlike Trump, who has repeatedly claimed that “climate change is an expensive hoax”, Biden regards climate change as “the first problem facing mankind”.
“This is primarily a difference in the American two-partisan ideas in addressing climate change.” Tao Wen said.
From former U.S. Presidents Clinton and Obama to today’s Biden, Democrats insist that “climate change is a serious threat to human survival” and advocate a low-carbon economy.
Li Haidong also talked about similar views.
He also said, “In addition to the environmental aspects, Biden also focuses on inter-country competition and green economic development.” Li Haidong pointed out that clean energy has broad prospects for development. Biden hopes to drive economic recovery and inject vitality into future economic development while seizing this highland.
On the other hand, Biden is actively engaged in “climate diplomacy” with the intention of taking the lead in international cooperation on climate change. “The most serious challenge for humanity is not from people or from country to country, but from the threat to humanity from climate change,” Li Haidong said.” If the United States can play a leading role, it will be an important lever to improve its international image.
The analysis generally believes that the return of the United States to the Paris Agreement will benefit not only from the United States, but also the global cooperation system to combat climate change.” Climate change is a matter of concern for the survival of all mankind. Tao Wen said.
[Be vigilant! ” Our planet is out of order”]
In early December, UN Secretary-General Guterres again warned that “there is a malfunction on our planet.”
“At present, biodiversity is collapsing, millions of species are in danger of extinction, and oceans are acidified by over-absorbing excess carbon dioxide…”Our planet is failing, and its repair must be all people working hand in hand,” Guterres said.
Within the framework of the Paris Agreement, China has announced that carbon dioxide emissions aim to peak by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
Japan and South Korea have announced carbon neutrality by 2050, and the United Kingdom has set its own emission reduction targets.
As a result, the hydrogen energy industry in many countries has stood in the forefront. Germany recently announced an allocation of 2 billion euros to establish a joint hydrogen production plant with international partners.
In Glasgow, England, preparations for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference are also intensively prepared. It is expected that at this conference in November 2021, the parties will make a clear commitment to ensure the full implementation of the Paris Agreement.
It is worth noting that British Prime Minister Johnson has recently extended an invitation to Biden to participate in the meeting.
In the face of the global climate crisis, no one can stay out of the world. The Paris Agreement is related to the improvement of the global ecological environment, the development and reproduction of mankind itself, and it will be refined and implemented under the care of all countries.
Returning to the agreement and working together to save Mother Earth is the belief that responsible powers should keep.
