The BOE published yesterday the ratification instrument by which Spain adheres to the Paris Agreement as a result of the Climate Summit held in the French capital in December 2015 and which also includes the world´s two most polluting countries, the United States and China.
Publication in the BOE (Official State Gazette of Spain) was the last step that was left after the Spanish Embassy deposited the Paris Agreement ratification instrument before the United Nations on 13 January, so that our accession as a full state party was made official.
On 12 December 2015, the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in the French capital, reached the Paris Agreement.
An agreement that comprises 190 National Plans to fight climate change, which cover 99% of greenhouse gas emissions and which is “a historic milestone in the fight against climate change and a success for the international community because, for the first time, it achieves universal participation of all countries “according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment, MAPAMA.
Increasingly ambitious goals
The text of the Agreement, consisting of 29 articles, aims to ensure that the planet global average temperature rise is well below 2ºC compared to pre-industrial levels, and tries to achieve additional efforts to enable global warming does not exceed 1.5 ° C.
It also recognizes the importance of enhancing commitments with increasingly ambitious targets. To this end it establishes a review cycle whereby every five years the level of implementation will be assessed with respect to the 2ºC target, including commitments to reduce emissions, the adaptation actions status and the situation of the implementation means, especially financing, the Ministry explains in a statement released when the instrument of ratification was deposited before the UN.
$ 100 billion annually
Another important aspect of the Agreement is that it seeks to establish a global qualitative target that enhances the ability to adapt to losses and damages already caused by climate change while strengthening the global cooperation framework so that the developing countries most vulnerable to climate change can better cope with the losses and damages resulting from it.
In order to achieve the objectives set out in this Agreement, in terms of funding, inter alia, the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change recognizes the developed countries current commitment to mobilize $ 100 billion annually, from year 2020, through public and private sources, a commitment that will be revised upwards before 2025.
In addition, while acknowledging the developed countries leadership in mobilizing climate funding, developing countries are being encouraged for the first time to participate, albeit on a voluntary basis, in funding these actions, it continues.
