Skip to content Skip to navigation

A new dawn - the paris agreement enters into force!

Today represents a new dawn in the history of mankind. Future generations will remember 4th November 2016 as the day the Paris Agreement came into force. The threat of climate change has never been more urgent, but the way forward has never been clearer with the historic climate agreement being among the fastest international agreements ever to be ratified and come into force. Expectedly, all the dates associated with the Paris Agreement will be remembered for eternity as the decisive moments when the global community decided to bring back the planet from the brink.
The path was paved exactly a month back when the European Union overcame procedural hurdles to join the agreement and ensured that the conditions for implementation were met, less than a year after the Paris Agreement was signed on the 12th of December, 2015. At least 55 countries, representing at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions had to ratify the agreement for it to take force. With the EU member states, 73 parties to the Paris Agreement have now ratified or formally approved the agreement, representing almost 57 percent of global greenhouse emissions.
It took 24 years after the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, which created the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to finally achieve a truly global agreement to address the climate change crisis. But the next UNFCCC meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, is scheduled days after the Paris Agreement comes into force, from the 7th of November through to the 18th. It is also significant that the first session of the “Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement”, commonly referred to as the CMA1, where countries start practical negotiations about implementation.

That is because, when an agreement comes into force, the compulsory elements are binding on the parties who have joined and the party is under moral obligation to implement the voluntary clauses as well. These countries now must initiate action to achieve their climate plans, called nationally determined contributions (NDC) and submit a fresh NDC every five years to ensure that the planet stays on track to control global warming.

Earlier this year, India had surprised the world by announcing its decision to ratify the Paris Agreement, thereby paving the way for its enforcement in record time. Speaking at a National Council meeting of his party at Kozhikode on 24th September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country would ratify the Paris Agreement on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi who led his life with minimum carbon footprint. “There is one work left in the CoP21,” he said, referring to the 21st meeting of Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC, “Ratification is yet to be done and India too is yet to do it. Today, on the birth anniversary of Deendayal Upadhyay, I announce that India will ratify the decisions under the Paris Agreement on October 2nd, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.”

On April 22, 2016, world leaders from 175 countries inked the historic Paris Agreement, using Earth Day 2016 as a backdrop for the ceremonial inking of the global agreement that will, hopefully, lead the world away from the age of fossil fuels and save the planet from catastrophic climate change. Several heads of state, officials and civil society representatives were at the United Nations headquarters at New York City to sign the Paris Agreement.

"We are in a race against time." U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had told the gathering at the United Nations headquarters in New York. "The era of consumption without consequences is over." The U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry signed the document while holding his young granddaughter. She was one of 197 children at the event to represent the parties that adopted the agreement, Ban said. "These young people are our future. Our covenant is with them," Ban said. "Today is a day for our children and grandchildren and all generations to come."

US President Barack Obama has said that the Paris Agreement represents “the single-best chance that we have” to protect the planet from climate change. Its promise lies in the fact that it establishes a durable framework of global action in which all countries, both developed and developing, make improved climate commitments over five-year cycles.

India has been leading the world in taking decisive action in recent times; in mid-October, it enabled nearly 200 countries to seal a legally binding deal that aims to reduce climate damaging greenhouses gases in products ranging from air-conditioners and refrigerators to shaving foams, a pact which will come into effect from January 2019 for developed countries such as the United States but much later for developing economies. The deal approved in Rwandan capital city Kigali, aims to substantially reduce the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), known as super greenhouse gases, by the middle of this century and complement the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The Paris Agreement is an important success for climate diplomacy as instead of imposing targets, it is based on voluntary country commitments or the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions. It commits rich and poor countries to take action to curb the rise in global temperatures that is melting glaciers, raising sea levels and shifting rainfall patterns. The Agreement ‘recognizes that climate change represents an urgent and potentially irreversible threat’ to the planet and mankind, and has set the goal for the world’s atmosphere to be a net zero of pre-industrial levels by 2100. By establishing a process where countries will meet every five years to review their progress in cutting emissions, the Paris agreement creates a way to ensure everyone’s living up to their promises. All countries are to review these contributions every five years from 2020 and to aim to achieve carbon neutrality in the second half of the century. Just as important, this window creates an opportunity for civil society groups and citizens to keep the pressure on governments to increase their commitments to cutting emissions – also submitted every five years.

Author info

Rituraj Phukan's picture

Rituraj Phukan is the Chief Operating Officer, Walk For Water; District Manager, Assam, Nagaland & Manipur, The Climate Reality Project India and Secretary General of Green Guard Nature Organization.

Add new comment

Random Stories

ULA rebel dies in Sivasagar encounte

6 Mar 2009 - 6:05am | editor
There is report of fierce gunbattle between ULFA and police in Sivasagar district where an ULFA rebel is feared dead. According to information, the encounter is taking place at Balijan area under...

Training on RTI and PIL concludes

13 Mar 2014 - 4:11pm | Raktim Baruah
North East Diocesan Social Service Society has organised two days capacity building programme under SHELTER project on March 11-12. This programme is a part of capacity building programme under...

More than horse trading

1 Feb 2014 - 12:25pm | AT News
Opposition consensus candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls Haidor Hussain accused Congress of trying to kidnap a section of opposition legislators to ensure win in the polls slated for...

Power crisis to improve by Saturday

12 May 2012 - 2:22am | editor
The power crisis that paralyzes Assam is expected to be partially over from Saturday evening. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that the restoration of one of the transmission towers damaged by storm...

Other Contents by Author

World Elephant Day was observed today by Green Guard Nature Organization with students and villagers of elephant depredation affected areas along the Nagaon- Karbi Anglong border. Green Guard Executive Member Dulu Bora, who is also a Consultant with the London-based Elephant Family, interacted with students of Samgaon No. 2 Buniyadi Bidyalaya and Samgaon Madhya Engrazi Bidyalaya, close to the Karbi foothills elephant habitat. Later, he addressed farmers of Loonsoong village on the best practices of human-elephant conflict management from his experiences as Field Officer for the grassroots initiatives of Green Guard Nature Organization since 2004. Dulu also thanked the community for the...
Four years back, on 9th March, I watched in awe at the remnants of the Larsen B ice shelf, massive tabular icebergs that we passed at the Antarctic Sound. A small group had braved the numbing cold to gather on the top deck of the Sea Spirit at 7 AM for the Iceberg Ceremony. Legendary explorer Robert Swan, the first man to walk to both the poles was the leader of the International Antarctic Expedition 2013. He voice was barely audible in the howling wind, “Back in 2002, most people did not believe in climate change. When it started to collapse, scientists said it will take a long time, but after the cracks were first noticed, it went very fast and collapsed in less than 4 weeks. Throughout...
A King Cobra was rescued from the premises of the Jiajuri Tea Factory near Nagaon today by Green Guard Nature Organization rescue specialist Dulu Bora. The very aggressive snake had reportedly charged at a group of female leaf pickers, following which some men had been summoned to kill it. The arrival of Dulu saved the King from being bludgeoned to death, and perhaps being eaten, as there are people in that area who are not adverse to eating even venomous reptiles! Later, forest personnel including the Chapanala Beat Officer accompanied Dulu to release the King at an uninhabited wilderness about 5 kms from the place of rescue. Dulu mentioned before the media contingent that this specimen of...
Global Wind Day is observed on 15th June to raise awareness of the potential of wind power for future energy systems and the opportunities for growth and employment.Wind Day, as it was known until 2009, was first organised by the European Wind Energy Association in 2007 and is currently coordinated by WindEurope and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and various national associations.  Wind energy is important for decarbonization of economies as unlike fossil fuels, itis clean, produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation, consumes no water, and uses little land. Wind power is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed and has the potential to exceed current global energy...
Green Guard Nature Organization organized multiple events centered around the theme of 'Connecting People with Nature' at various locations to celebrate World Environment Day 2017. At Loongsoong, Nagaon, a 'March For Nature' was organized under the stewardship of Sanctuary Wildlife Service Award winner Dulu Bora. Students and teachers of Loongsoong Shamgaon ME School, Shamgaon LP School and the Bridge of Hope School marched through the streets to demand an end to illegal poaching and logging activities in the area, which is close to the Swang R.F. and the Kaziranga- Karbi Anglong Elephant Reserve. A Tezpur, Green Guard Nature Organization collaborated with Tezpur Bikers and Tezpur...
The widely anticipated US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement was announced by President Donald Trump as promised during his election campaign and seeks to undermine the gains of the climate change agreement. Although expected, environmentalists and world leaders were harboring a faint hope that the US would not shirk from its responsibilities and accountability of being the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in history.  With this announcement, President Trump has surrendered leadership of the environmental movement, with the US now joining Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries outside of the global agreement. This is not the first time that the US has tried to disrupt global...
The International Day of Biological Diversity was observed by Green Guard Nature Organization at the Chapanala Higher Secondary School, Nagaon on Monday. The interactive awareness programme was addressed by   Subhasish Das, DFO, Nagaon,   Khagen Bhuyan, Range Officer Salonah,   Parul Gayan, Principal of the host school,  Jahira Begum, teacher and multiple award winning rescue specialist Dulu Bora, who provided a riveting account of his experiences with wildlife in the vicinity of the Karbi foothills. An audio-visual presentation by Green Guard Secretary General focused on emerging conservation challenges and man-animal conflict management. A photo exhibition was also...
The 2017 Whitley Awards Ceremony was held on 18th May at The Royal Geographical Society in London. The Ceremony was hosted by celebrity BBC presenter Thomas “Tom" Heap with the Whitley Awards presented to the winners by the Whitley Fund for Nature Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne. The annual Whitley Awards are a celebration of successful conservation leadership from across the globe and each of the winners receive £35,000 in project funding to help scale up their work. The prestigious ‘Green Oscars’ recognize effective local conservationists from bio-diversity rich, resource-poor countries spearheading innovative work to save endangered wildlife and benefit local communities....
Prafulla Samantara, who led a historic 12-year legal battle that affirmed the indigenous Dongria Kondh's land rights and protected the Niyamgiri Hills from a massive, open-pit aluminium ore mine, won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for 2017. The 65 year old activist from Odisha was one of the 4 anti-mining activists among the winners of the ‘Green Nobel’ awarded annually to people from six global regions for outstanding grassroots conservation.  The Goldman Environmental Prize was established in 1989 by American philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman to recognise individuals for sustained and significant efforts to protect and enhance the natural environment. The past...
The Namami Brahmaputra festival could not have happened at a better time, with rivers around the world in focus, albeit due to varied reasons. The mighty red river of India carries the hopes and aspirations of millions and at the same time, elicits fear and reverence, yet increasing pollution, the will of development planners and the consequences of global warming could transform the Brahmaputra basin. The ‘Son of Brahma’ weaves an increasingly tempestuous course as ‘He’ meanders down the valley, and further intensification of the hydrological cycle due to climate change and planned human interventions could exacerbate the riparian impacts.Late last year, the United Nations issued a warning...