The authors of the agreement have set a withdrawal period that President Trump must follow – which prevents him from irreparably harming our climate. The initial commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol was extended until 2012. This year, at COP18 in Doha, Qatar, delegates agreed to extend the agreement until 2020 (without some industrialized countries withdrawing). They also reaffirmed their commitment made at COP17 in Durban, South Africa, in 2011, to create a new global climate treaty by 2015 that would require all major emitters not included in the Kyoto Protocol, such as China, India and the United States, to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The new treaty – which was to become the Paris Agreement – was to completely replace the Kyoto Protocol by 2020. However, the Paris agreement came into force earlier than expected in November 2016. Here`s a look at what the Paris agreement does, how it works and why it is so crucial to our future. To avoid major changes in life as we know it, global action is needed. That is why the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming, rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius this century. In fact, the seemingly small difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees could have dramatic consequences on deep nations and coral reefs. The Paris Agreement is a bridge between current policy and climate neutrality before the end of the century. Many cities, businesses and organizations are considering reducing emissions, following the UNFCCC`s request to become climate neutral by the second half of the century.

In the United States, more than six hundred local governments [PDF] have detailed plans to combat climate change that contain emission reduction targets, despite the federal government`s exit from the Paris Agreement. Meanwhile, investors are investing more money in climate-friendly funds. In early 2020, BlackRock, the world`s largest asset manager, announced that it would avoid investing in companies with serious climate risks. Large companies such as Amazon and Starbucks have also made co2-neutral commitments. Some have gone even further to say they will be anti-carbon, which removes more carbon from the atmosphere than they emit. However, critics accuse some of these companies of “greenwashing”: they market themselves as environmentally friendly while pursuing harmful practices.