The Paris Agreement

Definition

"The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015, and entered into force on 4 November 2016. It's goal is to limit global warming [...] to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. "

Source: UNFCCC

Explainer

The Paris Agreement requires member states to develop, review and implement Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) once every 5 years in support of their mitigation and adaptation goals. The core goals of the Agreement are to reduce global greenhouse emissions and thus to avoid a climate increase above 1.5 degrees Celsius while building financial support for developing nations to mitigate and adapt to climate change.