Five Reasons to Smile About Paris Climate Talks

Peering closely at the climate talks underway in Paris could be a formula for depression.

Entrenched divisions persist between richer and poorer countries on key negotiating issues. Pledges to tackle climate pollution that were submitted by nations before the talks began a week ago were underwhelming, and they would collectively allow global warming to blow well past the dangerous benchmark of 2°C (3.6°F).
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But, as this year’s historic round of United Nations climate talks enters its crucial closing week, with ministers arriving in Paris to take over from their underlings as they try to seal a deal by week’s end, here are five reasons to consider staying upbeat.

The World Is Trying Something New
... In Paris, the U.S. is pioneering a new approach that relies on nations making voluntary commitments to reduce their climate impacts.  The entire process is becoming a high-stakes exercise in cajoling and pressuring.

That new approach frustrates some, particularly in Europe, who would prefer to see pollution improvements mandated by international law.  Those are legitimate concerns, particularly since nobody knows if the new approach will work any better than the old one.  But most nations and many experts believe it’s time to try something new.

Climate Action Is like Nuclear Disarmament
Although the bottom-up approach being negotiated in Paris is a new one for climate diplomacy, it resembles bilateral and multinational approaches that have succeeded in reducing threats of nuclear and biological warfare.
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Almost Everybody Is in for Climate Action
More than 180 countries submitted climate pledges during the past year. The 11 that didn’t tended to be torn apart by war or controlled by despots.
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Even if the talks in Paris collapse without an agreement being reached, the array of climate pledges that were dutifully filed signify that governments around the world are thinking seriously about global warming — and how they can contribute to a looming war against it.

Climate Pledges Would Slow Warming
Although the pledges are underwhelming, analysis by the U.N. and other groups shows they would have a meaningful effect if fully honored.
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Clean Energy Trends
Fossil fuels remain heavily subsidized, preventing what International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol described as “fair competition.”  Fossil fuel subsidies are being targeted by national governments as they try to transition their economies to clean energy supplies.  Last month, for example, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members agreed to curb public financing for coal power generation.

Still, nearly half of the power generating capacity installed worldwide in 2014 was built to produce clean energy, such as solar or wind power, according to findings published last month by Birol’s agency.
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A Paris agreement wouldn’t force countries to accelerate clean energy developments in their countries.  But simply planning for the Paris meetings helped pressure countries to do so, and any agreement that’s reached this week will help to coordinate and guide these efforts.

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