A small step but not and end in itself - Paris climate change deal

The historic agreement reached in Paris on climate change will not save the planet but it saves the last opportunity we have to save the planet. It is, therefore, a means to an end and not an end in itself.

Nevertheless, it marks a turning point in finally bidding adieu to the unfettered use of fossil fuels, without which the only home we know would heat to such a point as to make human life unsustainable in the decades to come. It is the first truly global climate deal, committing both rich and poor nations to reining in rising emissions.

Although its success was partially assured before the summit began, with 187 nations having already submitted detailed national plans for how they will contain the rise in greenhouse gas emissions, the final result could not have come about without a global commitment to co-operation and solidarity. The agreement was adopted by consensus during the meeting of government ministers.

The agreement is a huge advancement on the unmitigated disaster that was the 2009 conference in Copenhagen and creates the framework to limit average global warming to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures.

It is also a major improvement on the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and its various amendments in recognising the impossibility of imposing legal limits without full agreement.

That it was achieved in the immediate aftermath of the Paris terrorist attacks is remarkable, to say the least. Ironically, the terrorists may have unwittingly aided its success as no government representative at the negotiations wanted to be the one held responsible for its failure.

But the Paris deal is still only a step; in many ways, the easiest step. The question now is where do we go from here?

While more money has been spent globally in the last few years on renewable energy than ever before, many more billions will need to be expended in order to halt climate change.

To stop global warming, every country will have to do much more in the years ahead. That means abandoning once and for all the use of fossil fuels, halting deforestation, adopting new technologies and pursuing new policies.

The poorest nations of the world will also need to be taken into account as they are most at risk. The World Bank has reported that, by 2030, 100m more people could be forced into extreme poverty because of climate change, with global temperature rises leading to water shortages and the loss of arable land.

Under the Paris deal, wealthy countries have set a goal of providing more than $100 bn (€91bn) per year in public and private financing by 2020 for poorer countries, to help them invest in clean energy. But that may not be enough. As the Irish aid agency Trócaire observed recently, in countries such as Malawi, climate change is leading to flooding, drought, and hunger. Oxfam has said the Paris deal offers a “frayed lifeline” to the world’s poorest people, particularly island nations that are most vulnerable to rising sea levels.

The Paris deal is a small step that can only become a giant leap when all the signatories deliver on their promises.