Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, held its 21st Conference of the Parties, COP 21, in Paris in 2015.  The major outcome of COP 21 was the agreement by over 180 countries to restrict the impact of emissions on global warming and to limit the temperature rise to 2° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with an ambition of 1.5° Celsius. The Paris Agreement aims to increase the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change through resilience and adaptation and to foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development in a manner that does not threaten food production. It also aims to make finance flows consistent with the pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development. The Paris Agreement will achieve its goals through a range of climate action plans, known as nationally determined contributions, NDCs, to be carried out by all parties and which will ultimately tackle 95% of the world’s emissions. These NDCs are required to be ambitious and to increase in ambition over time in order to achieve the peaking of global greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and to undertake rapid reductions thereafter.

The policy implications of the overall goals of the Paris Agreement will be evaluated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, in a special report to be published next year. This report will assist the UNFCCC in establishing a system for measuring the effectiveness of the NDCs submitted by the parties. A facilitative dialogue in 2018, informed by the IPCC report, will evaluate the overall contribution of the NDCs to the goals of the Paris Agreement. Beginning in 2023, a five-yearly global stocktake of the efforts made by the parties to combat climate change will measure their effectiveness and drive the ambition of future NDCs.

The reality is that the European Union has been leading the agenda on this, and many other countries have followed suit. We intend, within the EU, to continue to play a leadership role in this area.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

The entry into force of the Paris Agreement required that 55% of parties, representing 55% of global emissions, complete their ratification processes. On 4 November 2016, those thresholds had been passed, triggering its entry into force. The agreement has now been ratified by 128 parties, including Ireland and the EU, with significant additional contributions to be made through the stated commitments by some of the larger parties, namely, China, India and the United States, all of whom have also ratified.

The Paris Agreement depends on the efforts of all parties to carry out ambitious climate action through their NDCs to achieve its objectives. The withdrawal of any party to the agreement would undoubtedly increase the already significant challenges facing the global community in taking appropriate action on climate change. However, I look forward to continued and positive collaboration, as required, with colleagues at EU level and beyond, as we work to advance the climate change agenda both nationally and globally.

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