'Historic' Paris climate deal adopted

[Oscar]

WATCH: Elizabeth May, leader of Canada's Green Party, agreed with Fabius that the draft text was ambitious but balanced – December 13, 2015 (9:49 min. - SCROLL DOW
[ http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/cop21-clim ... 62354?cid= ]


LISTEN: Elizabeth May: Canada was 'hated' for its inaction on climate change – December 10, 2015
[ http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thehouse/does-t ... -1.3359146 ]

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'Historic' Paris climate deal adopted

[ http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/cop21-clim ... 62354?cid= ]

Agreement criticized for imposing no sanctions on countries that fail to reduce emissions

CBC News Posted: Dec 12, 2015 5:52 AM ET| Last Updated: Dec 12, 2015 3:46 PM ET

Updated (NO LINKS)
■Countries adopt Paris climate deal
■Pact would be legally binding, French foreign minister says
■'Endeavour to limit' global temperature rise to 1.5 C
■$100B funding for developing countries by 2020

Nearly 200 nations adopted the first global pact to fight climate change on Saturday, calling on the world to collectively cut and then eliminate greenhouse gas pollution but imposing no sanctions on countries that don't.

Loud applause erupted in the conference hall outside Paris after French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius gavelled the agreement Saturday. Some delegates started crying. Others embraced.

The countries had been negotiating the pact for four years after earlier attempts to reach such a deal failed.

This accord marks the first time all countries are expected to pitch in — the previous emissions treaty, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, only included rich countries.​ Canada signed on to Kyoto, but later backed out in 2011. [ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada- ... l-1.999072 ]

'For our children'

Shortly after the deal was adopted, Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna tweeted: "History is made. For our children."

The White House called the Paris accord "the most ambitious climate change agreement in history" and says it establishes "a long-term, durable global framework" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

U.S. President Barack Obama will make a statement on the climate agreement later Saturday at the White House.

The agreement, South African Environment Minister Edna Molewa said, "can map a turning point to a better and safer world."

The deal now needs to be ratified by individual governments and would take effect in 2020.

Under the deal, countries will have to publish greenhouse gas reduction targets and revise them upward every five years, while striving to drive down their carbon output "as soon as possible."

The final text of the agreement commits countries to keeping global warming "to well below 2 degrees C" and hopes to limit it to 1.5 C, with the goal of a carbon-neutral world sometime after 2050.

In introducing the draft text earlier on Saturday, Fabius, flanked by French President François Hollande and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, called the pact "a historic turning point" and said it contained some key provisions.

Those include terms making the accord legally binding, as well as the 1.5 C goal — below the 2 C standard scientists say is essential to limiting potentially catastrophic climate change.

That was a key demand of developing countries ravaged by the effects of climate change and rising sea levels.

Another major debate has been over a promise that developed countries should provide $100 billion annually to help poorer states deal with the consequences of climate change. The text sets that figure as a floor by 2020.

"Having it presented with Ban Ki-moon on one side of Laurent Fabius and the president of France, François Hollande, on the other side, very clearly they are saying, 'This is the best we're going to get, not just now, but probably ever. Grab it with both hands,'" May said in an interview.

"And then we start the work, which is substantial, to constantly push for greater levels of emission reductions than what we now have."

The Green Party later tweeted its congratulations to May, McKenna and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Not far enough, critics say

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The Pembina Institute, a Canadian environmental think-tank, said Canada will only be able to meet the emissions targets under the new Paris Agreement if it brings in a national minimum standard for carbon pricing.

"On their own, provincial commitments will not ensure Canada does its fair share to reduce emissions consistent with the science of global warming," Pembina's federal policy director, Erin Flanagan, said in a statement.

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■Read the agreement
[ http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09.pdf ]

■COP21: Canada's new goal for limiting global warming 'perhaps a dream'
[ http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/clima ... -1.3357770 ]

■COP21: Catherine McKenna endorses goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees C
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■Climate change is 'largest science communication failure in history' - December 8, 2015
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[Oscar]

Al Gore praises 'humanity's moral courage' after historic climate deal reached

[ http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/al-gore-pra ... -1.2697960 ]

The Associated Press Published Saturday, December 12, 2015 2:34PM EST Last Updated Saturday, December 12, 2015 2:50PM EST

LE BOURGET, France -- The latest on the U.N. climate conference outside Paris (all times local): 8:05 p.m.

Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore says "years from now, our grandchildren will reflect on humanity's moral courage to solve the climate crisis. And they will look to December 12, 2015, as the day when the community of nations finally made the decision to act." [ . . . ]

[Oscar]

COP21 deal signed, ending fossil fuel era: experts

[ http://www.nationalobserver.com/2015/12 ... ra-experts ]

By Kevin Grandia in News | December 12th 2015

History was made today in Paris as the leaders of 195 nations agreed to an ambitious, science-based pact to move the world away from the fossil fuels that are to blame for the rapid increase in global temperatures.

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Finally we have begun to end the age of fossil fuels. The stage is set, the lights are all in place and the curtain has now gone up on a new stage of human history. Will this all go perfectly to plan? Of course it won't, we humans are amazingly good at making things difficult.

But for right now, it is time to celebrate that regardless of all the horrible things going on around the world, we are still able to come together and accomplish what needs to get done.

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EAC reacts to Paris climate deal and Atlantic Province's showing at COP21

[ http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/34283 ]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 12, 2015

Paris Climate Agreement Proclaims the End of the Fossil Fuel Era - Nova Scotia and New Brunswick notably out of step

PARIS (December 12, 2015) - Catherine Abreu, Ecology Action Centre’s Energy Coordinator, made the following statement as parties negotiate the adoption of a global climate deal at the 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris.

“Today the President of COP21 delivered the first global climate agreement that, if adopted, would see all countries in the world agreeing to phase out fossil fuels. While there are gaps in the agreement that require further work, its historic significance cannot be overstated.

The agreement would commit countries to striving to limit average global warming to 1.5 degrees. Achieving this necessitates a transition away from fossil fuel energy by mid-century. Paris has confirmed that a world run on 100% renewable energy is 100% inevitable.

Critically, the agreement outlines a structure that knits 196 parties together to facilitate ongoing collaboration on climate action. This is particularly important for vulnerable countries and communities in immediate need of support to survive the impacts of climate change, who cannot wait decades for their needs to be addressed. Many of these communities are in Atlantic Canada.

Representatives from every province and territory save Newfoundland & Labrador were present during the Paris talks. Though New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have made notable progress in mitigating climate change in the last decade, their showing during the negotiations was lacklustre. While the majority of the tens of thousands of participants in the talks were focused on the renewable energy revolution, New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant chose the moment to extol the virtues of an oil pipeline - TransCanada’s proposed export project, Energy East.

Meanwhile, Nova Scotia’s official presence in Paris was easily missed. A large contingent of Nova Scotian civil society - from business, environmental, academic, and youth communities - represented the province proudly throughout the conference. Interim Environment Minister Randy Delorey declined the opportunity to meet with representatives of this diverse group while at the conference. He also cancelled a meeting with the Canadian Youth Delegation, four of whom are from Nova Scotia, even as Canadian negotiators, Federal Ministers and staff, and Premiers and Ministers from other provinces found time to meet with them.

This behaviour abroad reflects Nova Scotia government’s weakening performance at home on energy and climate policy, jeopardizing the province’s national leadership on these issues to date.

Prince Edward Island shone as Premier Wade McLauchlan distributed P.E.I wind turbine pins and discussed the Island’s affinity with other small islands states at risk of being swallowed by rising seas.

Domestic action and continued participation of civil society will be necessary to ensure the high-level objectives laid out by the final agreement are cemented in ambitious national policies. Prime Minister Trudeau has promised a framework of Canada’s climate policy within 90 days of the negotiations. Canadians have high expectations and the Prime Minister has made it clear that he will call on all provinces and territories to meet these expectations with an ambitious goal and a plan to get there.

Atlantic Canada is on the front lines of climate change. A majority of our population lives in coastal areas; much of that population is rural. Coastal erosion and floods are already costing provinces millions of dollars every year. Ocean warming and acidification threaten the very marine food web upon which our invaluable fisheries depend.

By establishing targets and innovative policies to transition electricity systems away from fossil fuels, diversify domestic energy supply by developing renewable resources, and establishing programs to ensure energy is used more efficiently in homes and businesses, Atlantic Provinces have built a proud legacy of climate action and successful economic transformation. It is our hope that once back home, Atlantic governments continue that history of climate leadership. Much work remains and the urgency of climate change leaves absolutely no room for backsliding.” -30-

CONTACT:
Catherine Abreu
Energy Coordinator, Ecology Action Centre
acsec@ecologyaction.ca (checking email regularly for media requests)
+33 7 88 80 66 59 (Paris mobile and WhatsApp)

CATHERINE ABREU, Energy Coordinator
2705 Fern Lane, Halifax, NS, B3K 4L3
PARIS MOBILE: +33 7 88 80 66 59
(also on WhatsApp)
SKYPE: abreucatherine
tel. 902.412.8953
ecologyaction.ca

[Oscar]

COP 21 Paris Agreement Makes History

[ http://manitobawildlands.org/cc_meetings.htm#top ]

DATE: December 14, 2015

COP 21 logo International leaders have reached a pact to keep global warming "well under" two degrees, and "pursue efforts" to limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees. French foreign minister Laurent Fabius, Chair of COP 21, said the deal would be legally-binding, and that targets would be reviewed every five years.

More . . . .

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[Oscar]

Naomi Klein, Bill McKibben Knock Paris Climate Deal

[ http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2015/12/14 ... ign=151215 ]

Too little, too late. Redouble the fight, say two leading activists.

By David Beers, TheTyee.ca December 14, 2015

Two of the world's foremost advocates for action against climate change have let it be known they are largely unimpressed with the COP21 agreement in Paris.

Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything and Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, characterize the deal as too little too late. Still, both famous journalist-activists mark COP21 as a potential catalyst for heightened activism to pressure the world's governments to do more to forestall a greenhouse-gas fueled catastrophe.

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But McKibben, like Klein, urged activists to key off COP21 in pushing for change. He wrote:

"[W]e need to build the movement even bigger in the coming years, so that the Paris agreement turns into a floor and not a ceiling for action. We'll be blocking pipelines, fighting new coal mines, urging divestment from fossil fuels -- trying, in short, to keep weakening the mighty industry that still stands in the way of real progress. With every major world leader now on the record saying they at least theoretically support bold action to make the transition to renewable energy, we've got a new tool to work with."