It Took Just Over a Year for the Paris Climate Accord to Start Falling Apart

In December 2015, the Paris Climate Accord was hailed a "landmark" agreement by the New York Times.  Rich countries, like the U.S. and those in the European Union, agreed to make significant cuts in their climate changing emissions.  At the same time, those rich nations would contribute billions of dollars to aid the poorer countries of the world to fight  their war against climate change.  Barack Obama made a big thing out of it.  Others, apparently wiser, said the agreement would fail.

Thus, we come to early March 2017.  Bloomberg News is now reporting that the world's wealthiest countries are backing off from their financial commitments to the Paris Accord.  Some will try and blame Trump for this lack of commitment; giving these countries the cover they need to claim that the "Accord" is useless without the United States; the world's largest polluter.  Maybe so.  But, the reality is that the world is in a serious economic slowdown.  Without more money to do both the normal work of providing for their citizens, and at the same time, take on the additional burden of fighting climate change both at home and in other poorer countries, the Paris Accord was destined to fail.

In essence, the Paris Accord, like every climate agreement before it, again wind up on the trash heap of attempts by nations, not being able to work together to, you guessed it, save the world from climate change.  Do you see more than a little sense of climate denial in this story?  It appears that another Obama legacy is about to fall right along with ObamaCare.

References:

Nations Approve Landmark Climate Accord in Paris: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/world/europe/climate-change-accord-paris.html

Why the Paris Climate Change Agreement Will Fail: http://reason.com/archives/2015/12/14/a-happy-agreement-in-paris-wont-fix-glob

G-20 Poised to Signal Retreat From Climate-Change Funding Pledge: https://www.bloombergquint.com/politics/2017/03/09/g-20-document-shows-governments-retreating-from-climate-funding

IMF Sees Subdued Global Growth, Warns Economic Stagnation Could Fuel Protectionist Calls: http://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2016/10/03/AM2016-NA100416-WEO

Obama Caps Environmental Legacy With Paris Climate Change Deal: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/obama-caps-environmental-legacy-paris-climate-change-deal-n642266

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