Poland climate deal destined to fail?

In Poland on December 15, diplomats from nearly 200 countries gathered to adopt a detailed set of rules that will keep the Paris climate pact alive.

After a night-long negotiation, every country agreed to follow uniform standards for tracking their carbon emissions and climate policies. The deal also calls on richer countries to establish clearer guidelines about the aid they will offer to poorer countries in their transferal to clean, sustainable energy. It also sets up a process that helps countries that are struggling to meet emission goals to stay on track. 

Despite these lofty goals, a long history of failed climate agreements seems to forecast the demise of the recent Poland negotiations. 

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was initiated in 1992 when 165 countries signed the UNFCC, in which they agreed to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.” 43 industrialized countries among the 165 agreed to implement voluntary measures to stabilize their greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000, yet this goal was never reached. From the initial conference in 1992 to the latest in 2018, there had been several conventions, including the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and the 2015 Paris pact. Despite these idealistic treaties, no country is currently on target to meet those commitments, in fact, emissions are increasing, not dropping. 
U.S. President Donald Trump has stated multiple times his intentions of pulling out of the Paris pact in order to encourage U.S. economic growth. Likewise, Brazil’s new prime minister also announced his intentions of following Trump’s lead and withdrawing Brazil from the Paris climate agreement and increasing timber production in Brazil’s rainforests. In addition, the countries leading the fight for emission reduction— France, Japan, and Germany— have also announced that they will miss their mid-term carbon emission goals. 

While our emission reduction goals may be noble, government leaders continuously choose the development of their own countries over any world-wide emission reduction goals, deeming the many attempts at reformation futile. 

Featured Image—Poland climate conferenceCourtesy of The Columbian