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Summaries of EU Legislation

Climate change – Paris Agreement, ratified by EU

 

SUMMARY OF:

Decision (EU) 2016/1841 on the Paris Agreement on Climate Change

Paris Agreement

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DECISION?

  • This decision by the Council of the European Union ratifies the Paris Agreement on climate change on behalf of all European Union (EU) countries.
  • The agreement aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, including by limiting warming to well below 2oC.

KEY POINTS

  • Under the agreement, EU countries will:
    • meet the long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2oC, compared to pre-industrial levels;
    • pursue extra efforts to limit the increase to 1.5oC;
    • prepare and apply national action plans (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions) to meet these targets;
    • report to each other and to the public on the progress they are making on their commitments;
    • from 2023, conduct a planet-wide stocktake every 5 years with international partners, to set further targets based on scientific evidence and the results achieved;
    • take measures to deal with the impact of climate change that is already unavoidable;
    • provide practical and financial support to developing countries, to help them adapt to climate change.

EU action on climate change so far

  • In 2014, EU countries set themselves a binding target of cutting greenhouse emissions by 40 % by 2030, compared with 1990 levels.
  • This will involve switching to clean, sustainable energy forms, which must also be competitive and affordable. The EU recognises the need for incentives to encourage the necessary investment in this field.

FROM WHEN DOES THE AGREEMENT APPLY?

It enters into force on 4 November 2016, and will apply from 2020.

BACKGROUND

The agreement strengthens the global response to climate change by setting today’s policies on a course for climate neutrality before the end of the century.

It was adopted by 195 countries in Paris in December 2015 and replaces the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

Read more

MAIN DOCUMENTS

Council Decision (EU) 2016/1841 of 5 October 2016 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Paris Agreement adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (OJ L 282, 19.10.2016, pp. 1-3)

Paris Agreement (OJ L 282, 19.10.2016, pp. 4-18)

last update 04.11.2016

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