Science And Society

Science And Society

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The Paris Agreement is the first universal agreement that was legally bound by nations to keep rise in global temperature well under 2°C and likely even limit increase in temperatures further to 1.5°C. The Agreement was adopted in 2015 at the end of United Nations Climate Change Conference(COP 21) , and entered into effect on November 4, 2016. This was as a result of 55 countries that represent almost 55% of the total greenhouse emissions. As of January 2019, a total of 195 countries have endorsed it.

The Paris Agreement however was believed to be ineffective, since two of the largest greenhouses emitting countries, China and USA were not in the agreement. The USA withdrew on 1, June 2017 by the new president Donald trump, saying the agreement would harm America’s economy and instead opted for his America First Policy. This withdrawal in my opinion was the best move for Americans. The entire American economy is based on the use of energy that is otherwise considered not clean(Impulse, 2019). By Americans legally binding themselves to an agreement that would impact their economy and give their competitors an advantage over them. American industries run on oil and coal energy to generate power for them. A poll of independent oil experts by Foreign policy magazines highlighted that a total independence on oil was not practical(“Paris Agreement | Summary & Facts”, 2019). American households would also be affected by an increase in the electricity costs. In the US. Moreover, the withdrawal of Paris Agreement does not limit American private sector from investing in renewable energy. Another reason was that, in the Paris Agreement, developed countries were required to financially assist developing countries in achieving their goals on reducing greenhouse emissions, this would require them to expand the use of renewable energy. This does not go along with president Trump’s America First Policy, especially since even currently the developing countries have not prioritized the reduction of carbon emissions in their countries, the funds allocated to these countries would have gone to waste, since many of these countries have high rates of corruption. The money may have been used to improve American lives. The cost of the deal would not be cost effective to the American taxpayers.

References

Impulse, S. (2019). Paris Agreement: bringing solutions to climate change. Retrieved 3 September 2019, from https://solarimpulse.com/paris-agreement?gclid=CjwKCAjw-7LrBRB6EiwAhh1yX9dG3WimSQNaAre-KxgGv3IaTbe81EoJpsNcPOMsJw3L3QVgbJ898RoCiJ4QAvD_BwE

Paris Agreement | Summary & Facts. (2019). Retrieved 3 September 2019, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Paris-Agreement-2015