Blue Carbon Environments Are Key to Stopping Climate Change, But They Need Our Support
Kenya could incorporate the protection and expansion of all its blue carbon ecosystems into the nation’s NDCs, making a high-profile commitment to their conservation. But this won’t happen without new sources of income.
With the election of Joe Biden, the US is set to rejoin the Paris Agreement. The country’s commitment, made in 2015, to restrain temperature rises to 2°C as part of an international effort is again endorsed, at least on paper.
But progress since 2015 has been painfully slow. Signatories to the Paris Agreement must pledge actions, known as “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs), which increase in ambition at each five-year submission. The latest set are due in 2020, but with little time left, many are yet to be published.
But progress since 2015 has been painfully slow. Signatories to the Paris Agreement must pledge actions, known as “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs), which increase in ambition at each five-year submission. The latest set are due in 2020, but with little time left, many are yet to be published.
It’s hoped this process will produce public displays of virtue as governments jockey for leadership. But some nations – including Australia, New Zealand, Russia and Indonesia – have already stated they will not increase their ambition during this round of submissions, in violation of the agreement. Global policies currently in place, combined with newly pledged NDCs, give an estimated 66% chance of keeping global temperatures below 2.9°C by the end of the century.