Secretary of State John Kerry kisses his granddaughter after signing the Paris Agreement on climate change Friday at U.N. headquarters.

Secretary of State John Kerry kisses his granddaughter after signing the Paris Agreement on climate change Friday at U.N. headquarters.

175 nations sign historic accord on global warming

NEW YORK — In a striking declaration that the world is finally ready to change its polluted ways, global leaders gathered at the United Nations headquarters to sign the historic Paris climate accord, an agreement that is seen as the blueprint for rescuing the planet.

The question is whether the plan will work.

Year after year, decade after decade, the planet has been getting warmer. This March was the warmest in recorded history. Scientists say the future will be filled with food shortages, drought, rising seas and extreme weather if bold action is not taken quickly.

“We are in a race against time,” said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Some 175 nations signed the agreement Friday, the first day it could be signed. That is far more than had done so on a single day for any previous global agreement — but it still is also only a step toward the accord becoming international law.

For that to happen, at least 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of global emissions have to formally “join” or approve it within their national governments, some by executive action, others through legislative action. That process alone could take into 2017, though Secretary of State John Kerry suggested Friday that the goal could be within reach this year. The U.S. plans to join the agreement this year.

Even those who helped draft the accord acknowledge that its terms do not meet the goal it outlines of holding the increase in global temperatures to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above pre-Industrial Revolution levels. Experts said the current agreement would hold the average temperature increase to perhaps just below 3 degrees Celsius.

But nearly a quarter-century after international efforts to address climate change began, world leaders say this time, finally, momentum has shifted, and nations can confidently invest not in fossil fuels that create greenhouse gases but in clean, renewable energy — and still be assured that their economies will grow. Coal companies in the U.S. are going bankrupt. Access to lower-cost solar and wind power is increasing worldwide.

The accord, adopted by more than 190 nations in December, relies on individual countries to set goals for reducing emissions and to regularly revise those goals upward every five years “to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible.”

The U.S., which has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent below its 2005 level in 2025, is among the countries that likely will have to revise its goals upward. Complicating matters, in February the Supreme Court issued a temporary stay to the Obama administration’s plan to reduce emissions from power plants.

Kerry told the U.N. on Friday that it misses the point to focus on the fact that the accord does not guarantee to hold temperature rise to below 2 degrees, or a stronger goal that many groups support of 1.5 degrees.

“The power of this agreement is the opportunity that it creates,” he said. “The power is the message that it sends to the marketplace. It is the unmistakable signal that innovation, entrepreneurial activity, the allocation of capital, the decisions that governments make, all of this is what we now know definitively is what is going to define the new energy future.”

On Friday, some countries vowed to exceed goals they outlined just a few months ago for reducing their emissions. China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, said it intends to formally approve the agreement before it hosts the G20 leaders summit representing the world’s largest economies in September. China also reiterated its plans to establish a so-called cap-and-trade market that would put limits on how much carbon emissions industries can burn.

“The Chinese people honor their commitments,” Zhang Gaoli, the vice premier, told the U.N. “We will work hard to earnestly implement the Paris agreement.”

As Zhang left the podium, Ban Ki-moon said, “That’s great news.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, the West’s new face of progressivism, prompted applause when he said his country would give money to help developing nations fight climate change and invest in clean energy – a crucial issue in negotiations leading to the agreement.

“They shouldn’t be punished for a problem they didn’t create,” he said.

The ceremony was held on Earth Day, an event started in 1970. Children filled the aisles of the U.N. and a brass ensemble from Juilliard played. Kerry signed the agreement while holding his granddaughter in his other arm. Leonardo DiCaprio addressed the delegates, quoting Abraham Lincoln, and a young woman from Chad described a once vast but now vanishing lake on which her country depends.

“True climate justice is renewable energy for all,” she said.

Outside the United Nations, protesters said the accord falls far short of the action needed. About two dozen pretended to die, memorializing themselves with cardboard tombstones saying “R.I.P. Civilization” and “Killed by State Failure.”

But the accord was largely welcomed by conservation groups, and many said the large turnout of nations on the initial signing day was another important indicator that the problem was being taken seriously. The challenge, many said, will be to constantly press leaders to do more.

Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said major industrial nations at upcoming meetings should “phase out fossil fuel subsidies, shift investments away from high-carbon infrastructure like coal, and do more to help vulnerable communities deal with the mounting impacts of climate change.”

Tom Steyer, the billionaire environmental activist and philanthropist, praised the accord as “a moment of optimism as businesses, governments and citizens join together to chart a new course for our planet.” But he noted the increasing effects climate change is already having as motive enough to push for more ambitious action.

“Mother Nature,” he said, “has no plans to slow down.”

Next month, activists organized by 350.org plan demonstrations around the world against projects that produce and transport fossil fuels.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Bodies of two men recovered after falling into Eagle Falls near Index

Two men fell into the falls and did not resurface Saturday, authorities said. After a recovery effort, two bodies were found.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.