ABU DHABI // Looking back at 2015 and the signing of the Paris Agreement at COP21 is a memory that will be defined entirely by what happens between now and 2020.
It can fizzle, as so many other agreements of its nature have in the past, and become nothing more than a talking point in the meetings rooms of non-profit organisations looking for an axe to grind.
Alternatively, and I hasten to add somewhat romantically, it could be the turning point for humanity — one of those agreements tantamount to the Paris Peace Agreement or the Atlantic Charter.
The Paris Agreement outlined that countries will each commit to cut carbon emissions from a government level with review of commitments every five years.
The aim of the agreement is to reduce global warming to less than 2°C before 2050.
It’s got the all the makings of being the greatest meeting in recent times. The only difference is that if Paris is a success, then those involved don’t just save the winning side; they are guaranteeing the continuation of the human race.
To some that may seem dramatic, but that is the predicted outlook if we are to instil our trust in the scientists to whom we have depended on so much in the last century.
The agreement, with its 196 signatories was even heralded as the biggest event by Ban Ki Moon in his nine years as secretary-general of the United Nations.
However, by the time it was churned out, after a grinding 4 days of non-stop negotiations, it was, many will argue, a watered-down version of its former self.
The “legally binding” agreement is as taught as any UN threat — empty. Furthermore, it’s language allows for a great deal of interpretation which the international community should know will be exploited to state-centric economic gains.
Countries will slip between the cracks and others will default in pursuit of more immediate or instantly gratifying concerns but nonetheless, it exists and 195 countries have committed.
Additionally, unlike any other agreement of its sort, the flexibility is considered a great success as all countries, including the UAE, will be re-evaluating their emissions cutting goals every five years.
Perhaps the most important takeaway from the meeting is that countries might begin understanding that cutting emissions is as important as economic prosperity as monetary value of environmental projects is slowly being understood.
The job of the media now is to continue equating environmentalism as economic benefit, as that is by and large the easiest way to guarantee the continuation of our future generations.
nalwasmi@thenational.ae
Read more on the UAE’s developments in 2015 in:
› Technology: Launch of Apple Music and promise of Netflix
› Education: A shift towards the sciences
