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Science, People & Politics, Issue Four October - December, 2015. ISSN 1751-598X (online) Page 3 All this diplomacy is directed toward ensuring the UNFCCC, and its protocols, such as Kyoto, with specific GHG emission reduction targets, are implemented in timely fashion. The stated objective of the Paris Agreement, namely to hold the increase in global average temperature to, "... well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5° above pre-industrial levels, ..." is one the nations have had, and have striven toward, for some years. Their practical efforts are traceable via nationally determined contributions and intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Definition of the critical words "greenhouse gases", "reservoir", "sink" and "source" in the Paris Agreement are the same as defined in article 1 of the 1992 UNFCCC. The same UNFCCC article 1 of 1992 defines emissions as greenhouse gases and/or their precursors. Parties should, says article 5 of the 2015 Paris Agreement, conserve and enhance as appropriate sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases, including forests. This exhortation is a re-iteration and confirmation within an ever more rigorous administrative and legal international framework of the 1992 UNFCCC. How financially and scientifically the conservation is to be undertaken is not explored, though other parts of the Convention provide administrative and communication structures for knowledge sharing. Thus, painstakingly, are law and understanding being addressed by diplomacy and international relationships to guide members by as peaceful a route as possible, and by convention, treaties and protocols toward protecting the global environment. From the technical details, potential problems between nations and for peoples can be identified. Specific examples of how individual nations are tackling their commitments under the UNFCCC are to be found at this url http://www4.unfccc.int/submissions/indc/Submission%20Pages/submissions.aspx Accessed on 1st February, 2016. Such databases help with transparency and co-operation. The core UN-terminology used is Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC). (Correction 4-2-2016, the word is contribution, not commitment. Error by the editor, and corrected by the editor.) Co-operation, as in the UN Charter itself, is written into the Paris Agreement of the UNFCCC, which says that parties to the UNFCCC should work to enhance understanding of the adverse effects of climate change, including, for example, loss and damage associated with severe weather events. Areas of co-operation might include: early warning systems, emergency preparedness, resilience of communities and ecosystems, risk insurance facilities and climate risk pooling. INDCS include commitments to reducing emissions from activity in the first place, and ______________________________________________ Go to page 4
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Science, People & Politics issn:1751-598x (online)©.
2015
FrontcoverIssueFour,2015
Contents
Page 1
Page 2
Page 4
InsideBackPage
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The story starts on the contents' page, and runs through to the inside back page.
Publication 3rd February, 2015
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