How every person has a duty to cooperate with the state to protect and conserve the environment and the country’s natural resources to ensure sustainable development.
The Paris Agreement is a landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future. The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. To reach these ambitious goals, appropriate mobilization and provision of financial resources, a new technology framework and enhanced capacity-building is to be put in place, thus supporting action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries, in line with their own national objectives.
Decision makers are required to put forward their best efforts through “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. This includes requirements that all Parties report regularly on their emissions and on their implementation efforts. There will also be a global stocktake every 5 years to assess the collective progress towards achieving the purpose of the agreement and to inform further individual actions by Parties.
The NDCs are at the heart of the Paris Agreement and embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The NDCs reflect each country’s ambition, taking into account its domestic circumstances and capabilities. The NDCs are submitted every five years and are expected to represent a progression beyond the Party’s then current NDC and reflect its highest possible ambition.
In order to reduce emissions within the Paris Agreement, decision makers must implement mitigations and adaptation measures put in place in the National Determined Contributions (NDCs). These measures include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Mitigation measures: Efforts to reduce emissions and enhance sinks are referred to as “mitigation”. The Convention requires all Parties, keeping in mind their responsibilities and capabilities, to formulate and implement programmes containing measures to mitigate climate change.
- Adaptation measures: The Paris Agreement establishes a global goal on adaptation – of enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change in the context of the temperature goal of the Agreement.
Decision makers must work together to ensure that the NDCs are implemented effectively and that the goals of the Paris Agreement are achieved. This includes mobilizing and providing financial resources, a new technology framework, and enhanced capacity-building to support action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries, in line with their own national objectives.