Show of solidarity from major oil players an important step ahead of Paris Agreement

by Milos Bezanov

Commitments from 150 countries, representing 90% of all carbon emissions, have been made, according to the Guardian. The Paris agreement is the largest of its kind since the Kyoto Protocol of 1992, which in 2005 covered 35 countries and 14% of world emissions.
“It was unexpected to receive all these contributions and it sends a very strong signal…that we can reach a global agreement on Paris” French development minister Annick Girardin.

Such sentiment, although not wholly attributed, was triggered by recent behaviour expressed as the El Nino phenomenon, which occurred first in 1997/8.  Since the end of October, there has been a reported  a 3.2 degrees Celsius increase in temperature in the central pacific, triggering a 2015 El Nino (Earth Times article).

Major Players in Peril?

A new sense of urgency, according Annick Girardin, is incentivising key players building up to the Paris agreement, ” We’ve now got a..global dynamic telling us the world is moving on climate change”. In one such example, top bosses of Europe’s oil companies will join forces with the national companies of Saudi Arabia and Mexico, aiming to work together to limit flaring from refineries. Also increased coordination among countries has led to a $100 billion a year climate fund and other INDC’s (intended nationally determined contribution)
With the highest temperature on record, fluctuations in whether patterns in India and Indonesia, the 2015 El Nino phenomenon, along with other challenges, continues to raise questions of us.