Tuesday, February 16, 2016

CARICOM Reviews Commitments Made under the Paris Agreement

CARICOM Reviews Commitments Made under the Paris Agreement

12 February 2016: A two-day meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) climate change ministers undertook a review of the outcomes of the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC and assessed opportunities for the region. The main outcome of COP 21 is the Paris Agreement, an international climate change treaty that is expected to enter into force in 2020. Parties to the Paris Agreement agreed to limit the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above preindustrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C.


Parties further agreed in the Paris Agreement to foster adaptation, climate resilience and low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions development, and to ensure finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low GHG emissions and climate-resilient development.


The CARICOM meeting brought together climate change technicians and their ministers who addressed COP 21 outcomes, reviewed commitments made by the region in the context of the Paris Agreement and assessed opportunities associated with CARICOM member States acceding to the Agreement.


The Paris Agreement will be opened for signature at the UN Headquarters in New York from 22 April 2016 to 21 April 2017. The UN Secretary-General will convene a high-level signature ceremony on 22 April 2016. The Paris Agreement shall enter into force when at least 55 countries representing at least 55% of the total global GHG emissions become Parties to the Agreement.


The CARICOM meeting of climate change ministers took place in Belize City, Belize, from 11-12 February 2016. [CARICOM Press Release] [UNFCCC Decision Adopting the Paris Agreement] [Paris Agreement: Next Steps] More