BlueGreen Alliance | BlueGreen Alliance Statement on Paris Agreement

BlueGreen Alliance Statement on Paris Agreement

The BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director Kim Glas on the Paris Climate Agreement’s entry into force. The historic agreement entered into force today, three days ahead of the start of the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) in Marrakech, Morocco.

November 4, 2016

“We applaud the international community for acting at a nearly unprecedented pace to formally join the Paris Climate Agreement and allow it to enter into force. In doing so, these nations acknowledged the urgency to combat climate change on a global scale.

“This agreement has the potential to push the world into a clean energy future by driving the research, innovation, and technology that reduces emissions and spurs the global economy. It also includes language recognizing the importance of a just clean energy transition for impacted workers and communities.

“As countries move from negotiation to implementation, they must work cooperatively to make the goals outlined in the agreement a reality. This includes ensuring that countries achieve dramatic emissions reductions by 2050 and implement strong transition provisions for impacted communities and workers. Further, strong, transparent mechanisms for the measurement, review, and verification of each nation’s commitments and progress towards emissions reductions must be built out and implemented through the UNFCCC process. 

“We applaud the Obama administration and its leadership in moving towards this historic milestone, and look forward to working with this Administration and the next on policies that keep the United States on track to meet our commitments.”