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Saturday marks fifth anniversary of Paris climate change agreement
Saturday marks the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.
Leaders of 196 countries, including Canada, signed an agreement to do what it took to limit global warming to below two degrees Celsius and to create carbon-neutral economies by 2050.
Progress on those promises has been spotty.
A United Nations annual report released this week says greenhouse gas emissions have continued to grow — reaching record levels in 2019.
Even with a seven per cent decline in emissions expected this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, atmospheric concentrations are expected to rise.
The Liberal government has committed Canada to being carbon neutral by 2050. But it has released no plan for the three to four per cent annual cuts that it would take to get there.
Canada has never met any of its previous climate goals and is one of five G20 countries behind on its Paris commitments.
Hottest November on Record
This anniversary comes as the world experienced it hottest November on record, while Europe had its warmest fall.
According to a report released by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, temperatures were most elevated in a large region across northern Europe, Siberia and the Arctic Ocean, where sea ice was at the second lowest level ever seen in November.
Globally, November 2020 was close to 0.8 degrees C above the average temperature between 1981 and 2010.
Despite the numbers, Keith Stewart of Greenpeace says the climate movement is getting stronger, especially among young people.
