[GWSG] Reconciliation strategy; what now?; a UN triumph; US goals; implications of Paris; era of sustainability

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Down to the last day, the Paris climate talks were threatened by the division between rich and poor nations, expressed in the opinion of the poor that the agreement should acknowledge the obligation of the rich to bear the weight of the energy transition they had necessitated and of the suffering from climate disruptions they had created.  The "coalition of high ambition" resolved the division by uniting 90-odd rich and poor countries in support of the 1.5C target.  Obligations of the wealthy remained to support less affluent nations in costs connected with climate, and developing nations are urged to reduce emissions in somewhat less urgent terms than are developed nations, but the task of reducing emissions was taken on by all.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/13/climate-change-deal-agreed-paris


2.  The Paris agreement will receive a vote next April.  If at least 55 nations representing at least 55% of emissions sign, it takes effect in 2020.  (The US has already signaled that it will sign.)  Nationally defined contributions will be assessed in 2018, reset (ratcheted, it is intended) in 2020, and revisited at five year intervals after that.  The article looks at other "what now?" questions.  (NY Times-reg. req'd)  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/14/world/europe/leaders-move-to-convert-paris-climate-pledges-into-action.html?emc=edit_tnt_20151213&nlid=43628374&tntemail0=y&_r=0


3.  At Paris in the greatest gathering of world leaders, using such tools as informal informals and indabas, through a modified consensual process among 195 nations, the UN under French chairmanship accomplished the greatest diplomatic feat in our history.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/13/paris-climate-deal-cop-diplomacy-developing-united-nations


4.  The US played a major role in Paris.  A major objective was to protect the agreement from Republican sabotage.  http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/13/climate-change-paris-deal-cop21-obama-administration-congress-republicans-environment


5.  An Australian-German analysis of the Paris agreement finds that to meet its 2C target the world must decarbonize electricity production by 2050, and more quickly than that if it is to be "well below" 2C.  We will need to achieve falling global emissions before 2020-assuming that with the current drop in emissions we have not already reversed direction.   http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/hidden-gem-in-paris-deal-that-condemns-coal-to-early-demise-32246


6.  Ecologist Stephen Mulkey celebrates the Paris agreement's support of REDD, and observes that the agreement generally will require that we "embark on an era of sustainable management of energy and resources."  (Mulkey is President of Unity College, which has adopted a curriculum based on sustainability studies.)  http://environmentalcentury.net/2015/12/13/the-paris-accord-marks-the-beginning-of-a-new-era-of-sustainability/

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