Paris Agreement comes into effect

Paris, France: The International Energy Agency (IEA) has announced that the Paris Agreement on climate change, which was ratified last month, less than a year after it was approved by 197 countries under the French Presidency at COP 21 last December, has become an international law. Under the agreement, “nations have agreed to limit greenhouse gas emissions and focus efforts and investments toward a low-carbon, resilient and sustainable future. The goal is to keep global average temperatures from rising well below 2°C with the aim of working to limit it to 1.5°C”, said the agency. The agency further revealed that various nations will gather at COP 22 from November 7 to 18, 2016, in Marrakesh, Morocco, to discuss the terms of the agreement and help nations meet their goals. The agency announced that it will release World Energy Outlook 2016 on November 16, 2016, to help nations explore and adopt ways to reach the targets as mentioned in the agreement. The report, it added, looks at individual country pledges and examines how close – or far – nations are from reaching these goals. “Let’s not underestimate the task ahead,” said Dr Fatih Birol, the Executive Director of the IEA. “Limiting carbon emissions and changing our energy systems is a monumental challenge. But the IEA is working with governments around the world to help identify solutions and show how it can be done.”