The Paris Agreement on reducing greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, brokered by the United Nations (UN) in late 2015, has now entered into force. Over 100 countries have signed it, including most of the world’s largest GHG-emitting countries.
The aim of the agreement is to avoid so-called ‘dangerous climate change’. Governments have tasked themselves with keeping GHG emissions low enough that the atmosphere will not warm more than 2ºC above pre-1800 levels. Even this much warming will cause significant changes to the planet’s physical geography (which is why the UN would much prefer a 1.5º target to be met). But any warming above 2º will take humans into truly uncharted territory. For instance, scientists predict that sea levels could rise by as much as 9 metres over the next three centuries, posing a serious threat to many coastal cities.
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