Beyond Paris: 5 key outcomes from COP21 - the success of business mobilization

These are as follows:

• The agreed mitigation target has been lowered to the more ambitious 1.5°C global warming, as opposed to the previous 2°C.
• Mitigation strategies (i.e. efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions) should be paired with adaptation strategies (i.e. protecting economies from the effects of climate change).
• At least US $100 billion will be invested in developing nations to help them develop low carbon economies, likely stimulating a shift in investment towards sustainable initiatives and green technologies.
• The gap in capacities and technologies between developed and developing countries is to be closed.
• Increased transparency in measuring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, the financing of capacity-building support, and the progress that nations are making with their agreed Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs); which are to be reviewed by expert third parties to ensure credibility.

The report highlights both the unprecedented and positive nature of this latest climate conference, as well as the criticism levelled at it that the current INDCs proposed by the parties will not be sufficient to meet the 2°C target, let alone the new 1.5°C target. However the report’s main focus is the positive commitments that many companies and organisations worldwide have made to mitigating climate change, including continuing to divest from fossil fuels and entering into political and non-political groups pledging to curb emissions.

Abstract

At the end of the recent COP21 in Paris, the global leadership took a major step forward in the fight against climate change. On December 12th, representatives from 195 countries and the EU gathered in the French capital reached a universal agreement on global climate action as the outcome of the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference, known simply as COP21.

Citation

Gain, S. (2016) Beyond Paris: 5 key outcomes from COP21 - the success of business mobilization. Ecometrica.

See the full infographic and paper here.

You can find related resources in the research Library categories on climate change: mitigation, climate change: impacts and adaptation, governance and policy, economy, carbon rationing/trading/offsetting. See also the keyword category: GHG impacts and mitigation, climate policy.