Climate Change

Parc des Expositions, Paris Le Bourget. Site of the UNFCCC COP21.

Members of the McGill University community, including both faculty members and students, have arrived in Paris to take part in the 21^st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP21). Follow the activities of the McGill delegates throughout their time in Paris on the McGill Climate Change Blog.

COP 21 

Running from November 30th to December 11th, the conference is hoping to create a new international agreement on climate change, applicable to all Parties, in an attempt to meet the long term goal of keeping global average temperature increase to no more than 2°C – a target that is still within reach, according to the UNFCCC synthesis report on national contributions. This report, published on October 30th, studied the impact of intended nationally determined contributions (INDC’s) from 147 Parties on their greenhouse gas emission reduction policies. According to the report, the global trajectory seems to be moving away from the ‘worst case scenario’ of 4.5 to 6°C of warming by the end of the century, and although with current contributions from Parties, global temperatures are still projected to rise to approximately 3°C, the 2°C target can still be achieved, provided the process is sped up. Many agree providing for a review mechanism for the years to come is crucial to ensuring this increased momentum.