Over 160 countries are expected to sign the agreement at a ceremony held at the UN headquarters in New York, making it the largest UN signing ceremony to date. This pledge from so many countries shows the strong support for tackling climate change around the world.
In practice the commitments will only come into force when 55 countries covering 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions ratify the agreement, meaning that they have approval within their own countries to accept the terms of the deal.
The Paris Climate Deal
The UN conference on climate change, held in Paris at the end of last year, resulted in this historic pledge from world leaders. Representatives from almost 200 countries agreed the ground breaking deal to tackle climate change. It included an ambition to keep global warming below 1.5⁰C and a long term goal to bring global emissions down to zero.
The agreement marks the first time that virtually every country on Earth has pledged to constrain its greenhouse gas emissions with a view to keeping global warming since pre-industrial times below the commonly-used ‘danger threshold’ of 2⁰C .
The deal is a vital step in the right direction, it is not perfect but it lays the foundations for a low carbon future. The government now needs to take action to deliver on these ambitious targets.
Climate Ambassadors
The agreement was only possible because so many groups came together to call for action on climate change. From WI members sharing hearts last February, to those who joined more than 9000 people in London in June 2015 to lobby their MP . We will be keeping up the momentum over the next year and need your support to help protect our environment.
Over the coming months we will be recruiting volunteers from the membership to act as Climate Ambassadors. Register your interest by emailing publicaffairs@nfwi.org.uk
The NFWI will provide expert-led training on the causes and impacts of climate change, training on successfully engaging people on this issue and a toolkit of further resources. The ambassadors will work with the NFWI to produce a local case study, looking into the causes and impacts of climate change in their local area, and will work to raise awareness of the issue locally.
WI members have vital stories to tell about the impact of our changing climate. The NFWI would like to harness the experiences of members to raise awareness of the things that could be lost to climate change.
October Week of Action
Join us from 10th-16th October in a Week of Action to celebrate the people, places and things we want to protect from climate change, and make sure MPs feel that love. People all over the UK will be lobbying their MPs in their local area, and we’d love you to be involved.
We’ll be seeing nature walks, tea parties, lobby meetings, community energy visits and all sorts of other events to show MPs why you would like them to take action to protect your community from the impacts of climate change. All this will involve MPs so that politicians see, feel and hear how much their constituents care about what we could lose to climate change.
So it's time to get thinking! What can you do in your area to start that conversation with your local MP?
Sign up by emailing publicaffairs@nfwi.org.uk to let us know if you’re interested in attending or organising an event, and for more information.
Find out more about becoming a Climate Ambassador and joining the October Week of Action at www.thewi.org.uk/climate-change
No comments:
Post a Comment