Why Nations Will Meet Paris Climate Agreement Goals
The Paris Agreement was the first time all countries came together to work toward a reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to mitigate climate change. In a 2015 study published in Nature, if the world was able to maintain its commitments toward meeting the Paris Agreement goals then it could be expected that:
- A third of oil reserves
- Half of gas reserves
- 80% of known coal reserves
will stay in the ground. Although this would be good for the overall health of the planet by reducing impact of climate change, it would be disastrous for resource extraction based companies. However, with recent reports, companies that work on the extraction of oil, gas, and coal may not have much to worry about if current trends continue. Even with the Paris Agreement accords we see many countries not meeting their goals and actually increasing their emissions. Globally, we see more coal plants coming online to support developing countries appetite for growth. Also, we continue to see increases in emissions from the transportation sector.
Is this growth in emissions a hiccup and expected to be short lived? Some would argue that it is.
