COP21: Paris climate deal is 'weak' and 'unambitious,' will lead to 3 degree temperature rise by 2100

Paris climate agreement was a “compromise” which is unambitious and weak, says Indian non-governmental organisation Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

The organisation further says that rather than improving the condition of the world, the deal will end up increasing the temperature from 3 to 3.5 degrees by the end of 2100.

The CSE believes that the Paris climate change agreement is a compromise deal which can also be called as the lowest minimum denominator in multiple ways. The general director of CSE, Sunita Narain, says that the developing countries have not promised much in terms of emissions cut before 2020.

The much-anticipated agreement was signed by the countries participating in the COP21 summit on Dec 12, nearly 24 hours after the official deadline for the summit to conclude. The agreement will be open for official confirmation by each nation from April 2016 onwards.

The agreement has been signed after two weeks of rigorous negotiations and discussion at the event in Paris which began on Nov 30. While the developing countries have made a lot of compromises in terms of initiatives toward climate change, developed countries seemed to have enjoyed most of all.

The developed nations are no longer legally bound to meet any sought of finance of emission cuts. The CSE considers such nations to be the “biggest winners.”

“The phrase ‘historical responsibility’ has been erased from the agreement and this weakens the obligations of developed countries to take action due to their past emissions,” says Chandra Bhushan, CSE's deputy director general, in a press statement. “Without historical responsibility, equity will now be interpreted only through the words ‘respective capabilities and national circumstances’ further removing differentiation between the climate actions of developed and developing countries.”

Meanwhile, in terms of India, the organisation believes that the nation has neither lost nor won in the short term. Although the nation has got right words in the deal, it has failed to operationalise equity and get a fair share of carbon space.

In addition, the Paris agreement has allowed carbon markets to voluntarily buy or sell carbon credits. The CSE fears that with the inclusion of such a provision, the developing countries will do low on emission cuts and buy carbon credits from developed countries instead.

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