New climate deal leaves breathing space for our kids

We all know and understand that if rising global temperatures aren’t kept under a certain limit (1.5°C above pre-industrial era is a common wisdom), we will see the worst extremes of global warming. So signing on the dotted line of an agreement to that effect should be a no-brainer, right? Now imagine representatives from nearly 200 countries coming together — and failing — to agree to a draft that says just that.

That almost happened.

In a moral victory for the planet that we are going to leave for our children and theirs, negotiators from nearly 200 countries at the UN Climate Change Conference, also known as COP24, agreed to enforce rules on implementing the landmark 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement, but not before some eleventh-hour bargaining and histrionics.

The dealmakers agreed to the framework on how to compute their greenhouse gas emissions — the first step to actually countering ones that are found at higher than optimum levels. And despite US President Donald Trump’s pledge to abandon the Paris Agreement, the US signed the accord, leaving the door open enough for him to stay on if he later decides that climate change is for real, or for any future administrations to reenter the agreement.

Negotiators, however, kicked the proverbial can down the road on certain key decisions — like how richer nations intend to support the poorer ones in meeting the latter’s emission targets.

Nevertheless, the fact that countries with as diverse economies and national agendas as those of the US, India, China, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Turkey, Kuwait, Russia and a whole host of others agreed to the 133-page agreement — which entails the basic building blocks for putting the Paris Agreement in force — is a step in the right direction, and leaves breathing space for our children.