This month saw the first concrete step toward enshrining the Paris Climate Agreement since the 191 countries approved the accords last December.
On October 4, the European Union collectively opted to ratify the climate deal, setting in motion a mechanism for the Agreement to go into force within 30 days. CMA, the governing body that will be responsible for global implementation of the Agreement, will now hold its meeting in time for COP 22 in Morocco next month.
“Climate action by countries, companies, investors and cities, regions, territories and states has continued unabated since Paris, according to Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. “The full implementation of the agreement will ensure that this collective effort will continue to double and redouble until a sustainable future is secured.”
The watershed moment came when the U.S. and China jointly ratified the accord in early September, accounting for close to 40 per cent of global emissions. In order for implementation to begin, however, 55 member states representing at least 55 per cent of emissions needed to be on board.
India, the third greatest global emitter after the U.S. and China, accepted the accords on October 2 (on Gandhi’s birthday), lending seemingly irreversible momentum toward ratification, culminating in the EU’s successful signing last week.
Having overcome the threshold for the accords to come into force, COP 22 will now serve as the inaugural session of the CMA, laying the foundation for long-term oversight of each member state’s implementation procedure.
And as of October 5, this includes Canada, which passed a motion in the House of Commons endorsing the Paris Agreement.
"Ratification by Canada will help build the global momentum for action on climate change,” Keith Stewart, Greenpeace Canada’s head of climate and energy campaign, said in a statement. “To be taken seriously, however, we need a plan to actually turn those lovely words into deeds.”
While environmental groups cautiously celebrate the move as a positive first step, others accuse Prime Minister Trudeau of precipitously signing the agreement with no formal instrument in place to help meet Canada’s goals.
“We have ample evidence that it’s easy to set bold targets and then not follow through,” says Kathryn Harrison, professor of Political Science and Acting Dean, Faculty of Arts at UBC. Having a plan in place “is not necessary for Canada to ratify, but I do think Canadians are right to ask how the government plans to achieve compliance, particularly after so many previous missed targets.”
Despite campaigning on the promise of a more rigorous climate framework than the Conservatives, the Liberals have settled for the original target of reducing GHG emissions by 30 per cent over 2005 levels, which Caitlin Workman, spokeswoman for the Environment Minister, claimed is “already going to be, quite frankly, very challenging to meet.”
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna’s promise, meanwhile, to “backstop” provinces that don’t individually comply with a mandatory price on carbon by 2018 has riled more than a few feathers among Canada’s premiers.
“I think this tension with laggard provinces was unavoidable if Canada was to achieve a national carbon price,” Harrison says. “But that makes it all the more important for the federal government to demonstrate leadership, which they have done.”
By Arman Kazemi, 13 October, 2016