The Paris Agreement sets out a common set of goals relating to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change that has been agreed by the vast majority (195) of the world's countries. It's headline objective is to limit the temperature rise this century to well below 2 degrees celcius above pre-industrial levels, with a stretch target of 1.5 degrees, recognising the need for emissions to peak and start to decline as soon as possible. The agreement requires all countries to put forward Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) which set out policies and activities that seek to put in place mitigation and adaptation actions to limit temperature increases in line with the headline objectives. Performance against the headline target will be reviewed on a five yearly basis.
The Paris Agreement was the result of the UN led process through which countries meet on an annual basis as part of the conference of the parties (COP) to seek to agree mitigation and adaptation activities. The Paris meeting in December 2015 resulted in the first legally binding agreement entered into by the majority of the world's nation states. More information can be found on the UN website
The Climate Action Tracker monitors current policies against the target set out in the Paris Agreement, summarised in the chart below
Source: Climate Action Tracker
Region / Country: International
