US to rejoin Paris deal, but is it enough?
Earlier this month, the US completed the procedures to exit the Paris Climate Agreement—the only global deal the world succeeded in making to cut carbon emissions across the board. The US was supposed to cut 26-28% of its emissions by 2030, according to the deal.
That commitment derailed as soon as Donald Trump assumed America’s presidency in 2017. Trump, who called the climate catastrophe a “hoax”, also relaxed restrictions imposed on the oil and gas sector by the previous Barack Obama administration. Now, under President-elect Joe Biden, the US is once again likely to adopt the Paris Accord.
In an interview, Biden had promised to ratify the Accord on behalf of the US on his very first day in power. But experts say considerable damage has already been done as precious years have been lost. Not only did the US flout its commitment on carbon emissions, but, as early as in 2017, it also stopped the Green Climate Fund it had promised to give poorer nations to invest in renewable energy systems.
Last year, Australia followed suit and stopped new contributions, causing a roadblock for green initiatives. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency has observed a substantial disruption in photovoltaic deployment —for solar energy—in India this year due to Covid. Though the agency predicts a rebound over the next two years, the time lost translates into more carbon emissions, how much ever moderated by the subsequent lockdowns.
A new report released by the Red Cross on global catastrophes since the 1960s has pointed out that the world has witnessed a whopping 100 disasters—most of them climate-related—since the WHO declared the pandemic in March. These disasters have impacted over 50 million people.
Yet, the world is no closer to addressing the climate catastrophes as it was five years ago. With global agreements failing to achieve the desired impact, hope now rests on individual nations keeping their commitment and adhering to emissions control, and on the prospects that Biden may bring for our climate future.