The Pointer UW-Stevens Point Student Newspaper
On Oct. 2, the birthday of India’s former independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, India ratified the Paris Climate Change Agreement and joined the largest effort in the world to reduce greenhouse gases.
The Paris agreement involves 195 countries and was negotiated last December to create a worldwide reduction in carbon emissions. It will go into effect when enough countries join to account for 55 percent of the world’s carbon emissions.
To formally join the agreement, countries must give an object of ratification to the United Nations, which India did earlier this month, according to the Washington Post.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo courtesy of www.firstpost.com.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on Twitter after the ratification and said, “Care and concern towards nature is integral to the Indian ethos. India is committed to doing everything possible to mitigate climate change.”
India joins the 62 other countries that have joined the treaty, including countries who produce large carbon emissions such as the United States and China. The Washington Post reported that India is the fourth-largest emitter of global greenhouse gases.
John Coletta, English professor and co-director of the environmental studies minor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, said that countries like India joining the agreement mean that humans are taking steps across the world to create a sustainable future.
“We survive through envisioning alternative futures and then choosing the ones that make the most sense, and that’s what the Paris agreement is,” Coletta said.
Each country produces a certain percentage of greenhouse gases, and the Paris agreement will not take action until the total carbon emissions from the involved countries account for 55 percent of the total carbon emissions in the world.
India’s carbon emissions account for 4.1 percent of greenhouse gases.
Joining the Paris agreement means the total emissions from the countries who joined the agreement jumps to 51.89 percent. This makes the goal of 55 percent attainable, according to the Washington Post.
A country like India joining the Paris agreement demonstrates an increasing global support for action on climate change.
Coletta said the initiative of this agreement will help those who are not scientists understand what can be done to create a more sustainable environment.
“The Paris agreement is all about, if we take the proper steps, here’s what life could be like. Most people will never change or make the choices they need to make in their day to day living if they don’t have some idea of what they want to become,” Coletta said.
Alexa Dickson
News Editor
Alexa.S.Dickson@gmail.com
