Adaptation issues were at the forefront of the paris agreement. Collective long-term adaptation objectives are included in the agreement and countries must be accountable for their adaptation measures, making adaptation a parallel element of the mitigation agreement. [46] Adaptation objectives focus on improving adaptive capacity, resilience and vulnerability limitation. [47] Although mitigation and adjustment require increased climate funding, adjustment has generally received less support and has mobilized less private sector action. [46] A 2014 OECD report showed that in 2014, only 16% of the world`s financial resources were devoted to adaptation to climate change. [50] The Paris Agreement called for a balance between climate finance between adaptation and mitigation, highlighting in particular the need to strengthen support for adaptation from the parties most affected by climate change, including least developed countries and small island developing states. The agreement also reminds the parties of the importance of public subsidies, as adjustment measures receive less public sector investment. [46] John Kerry, as Secretary of State, announced that the United States would double its grant-based adjustment funding by 2020. [33] Dutch Environment Minister and Council President Sharon Dijksma and European Commission Vice-President Maroé Efsovic sign the agreement on behalf of the EU at a high-level ceremony in New York, USA. Commitments made so far could lead to an increase in global temperatures of up to 2.7 degrees Celsius, but the agreement sets out a roadmap for accelerating progress. In addition, countries are working to reach “the global peak in greenhouse gas emissions” as soon as possible. The agreement has been described as an incentive and engine for the sale of fossil fuels. [13] [14] These rules of transparency and accountability are similar to those set out in other international agreements.
Although the system does not include financial sanctions, the requirements are intended to easily monitor the progress of individual nations and promote a sense of overall group pressure, discouraging any towing of feet among countries that might consider it. A new global agreement on climate change was reached on 12 December. The agreement is a balanced outcome with an action plan to limit global warming to a level “significantly below” 2 degrees Celsius and to limit its efforts to 1.5 degrees Celsius. As soon as the European Parliament gives the go-ahead, the closing decision will be formally adopted by the Council. The EU will then be able to ratify the agreement. Recognizing that many developing countries and small island developing states that have contributed the least to climate change are most likely to suffer the consequences, the Paris Agreement contains a plan for developed countries – and others that are able to do so – to continue to provide financial resources to help developing countries reduce and increase their capacity to withstand climate change.