Success: Paris Climate Deal Goes Into Effect

Target: ForceChange community, and other activist communities worldwide

Goal: Celebrate the Paris Agreement officially entering into force.

Friday, November 4th may go down in history as the day the landmark Paris Climate Agreement officially went into force. This is much earlier than we expected to see the agreement taking effect – it often takes years for countries to ratify major international deals – but here we stand, and the Paris Agreement is for all intents and purposes a done deal.

The agreement was slated to enter into force if and only if 55 countries that produce at least 55% of global greenhouse gasses were to ratify or otherwise approve the agreement. Now, a mere 11 months after the agreement was reached at the Paris Climate Conference, we have surpassed this goal. Of the 193 member states that signed the treaty, 100 have now ratified it, and the agreement will go into force ahead of schedule – perhaps thanks in part to global fear of a Trump presidency.

If Donald Trump deserves some small thanks for motivating nations to act with haste in approving the Paris Agreement, another group that certainly deserves recognition is members of the ForceChange community who signed this petition, and other communities of activists and forward-thinking citizens all over the world. Public support for the Paris agreement has been evident, thanks in part to petitions such as the ones found here and here.

This is truly a momentous occasion. Seeing as how the signers account for nearly 100% of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions, Paris may be called an effectively universal agreement on climate change. Even countries that previously showed little inclination to act on climate change have rallied around the Paris Agreement – and top polluters like the U.S., China, and India, have set aside past divides in the interest of taking unified steps towards a cleaner future. Sign this petition to show appreciation for the leaders whose commitments are now becoming a reality, and the communities that demonstrated strong public support for ratification of the Paris Agreement.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear activist community,

I am writing to applaud efforts to spur ratification of the Paris Agreement, and keep the topic on the forefront of the public mind. The agreement has now officially gone into effect, ahead of schedule, and with 100 member states taking part. Even nations like India, which still require development to bring millions of citizens out of poverty, have committed to a cleaner and greener future.

Paris may not be a panacea, but the fact that so many of the world’s nations have united to reimagine our energy system, and are now following through on the promises they made together, represents an enormous victory for the planet. In the words of Al Gore, “no agreement is perfect, and this one must be strengthened over time, but groups across every sector of society will now begin to reduce dangerous carbon pollution through the framework of this agreement.”

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo credit: U.S. Department of State