On This Day: The Paris Agreement

On April 22, 2016 (Earth Day), signatories from 196 countries came together to sign the Paris Agreement. This historic agreement is a global effort to combat climate change and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Some of the key elements of the agreement are as follows:

• Not allowing the global temperature to increase by 2°C (3.6°F) above pre-industrial levels and limiting it to 1.5° C
• Limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to the same level so that trees, soil and ocean can absorb naturally beginning between 2050 and 2100
• Review each country’s contributions to cut these emissions every 5 years

Ideally, with each country participating, greenhouse gas emissions would be cut by 20% and increase energy efficiency. This kind of change comes from large scale political and economic efforts, but  you can do your part in small ways, everyday by doing things like driving less, using reusable grocery bags, reusable coffee mugs, reusable water bottles, eating local, eating less meat, buying ethically made clothing, and much more!