Cop21... thoughts

A little while after the Cop21 negotiations in Paris have come to an end, I thought it would be good to take a moment to reflect on the outcomes of the meetings.

Just from a quick glance in the media, I can't help but feel that the agreements reached are a little general and nothing other than what we knew needed to happen. Hailed as an historic moment in getting nearly 200 countries to reach an agreement on climate change, here is a summary of the Cop21 outcomes:

- To keep global temperatures "well below" 2.0C above pre-industrial times and "endeavour to limit them even more, to 1.5C".

- To limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to the same level that trees, soils and the ocean can absorb naturally, beginning at some point between 2050 and 2100.

- To review each country's contribution to cutting emissions every five years so they scale up the challenge.

- For rich nations to help poorer nations by providing "climate finances" to adapt to climate change and switch to renewable energy.

(Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35073297)

The full draft agreement can be found here

As I'm writing a blog focusing on the effects of climate change on the oceans, I was disappointed to note that the word "ocean" only appears once in the draft agreement... The oceans are so fundamental to our Earth system and yet endure climate change's effects in silence and we are only really beginning to realise exactly what is going on beneath the pristine surface. Surely they deserve more of our attention?

One of the other things which stands out to me is a phrase in the second target, 'beginning at some point between 2050 and 2100'. What does this mean? Surely whether we begin limiting the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere in the earlier part of this timeframe or towards the end will make a massive difference to the effects on our planet and the chance of us reaching the "2C target"?

You've probably guessed from reading this that I am a little cynical about the outcomes of Cop21. I guess only time will tell to see if we really can cut our emissions and keep global temperatures below that golden 2C above pre-industrialisation values. Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments section and I'll be putting a poll up so you can share your feelings on the outcomes of Cop21.