More Than 170 Nations Gather to Sign Paris Climate Accord

The Paris climate accord should be the starting point for nations fighting global warming, not the finish line, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at a signing ceremony for the landmark agreement.

   Ban challenged leaders from 171 nations gathered at United Nations headquarters Friday to move beyond promises of the accord brokered in December and undertake steps to reduce pollution and slow warming linked to rising seas, heat waves and droughts.

   It calls for countries to voluntarily reduce fossil-fuel emissions in hopes of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above temperatures at the start of the industrial revolution. “We are in a race against time,” Ban said.

   The effort will require titanic shifts in how societies generate electricity, fuel vehicles and run factories, in large part by forsaking coal, oil and natural gas for renewable energy. It’s broader than any previous climate agreement, applying to all nations, rich and poor alike. It will cost an estimated $12.1 trillion over the next 25 years for the 195 countries that have said they will sign the agreement, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

   “The power of this agreement is what it is going to do to unleash the private sector,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said. “The power is the message that it sends to the marketplace.”

Πηγή: bloomberg.com