Brais: Podcast as of May 2nd

In this episode of the Climate Seed podcast, Maggie discusses the Paris Agreement and the evolution of global climate governance. She highlights the importance of international cooperation and the role of international agreements and organizations in addressing climate change. Maggie also mentions Greta Thunberg's criticism of the actions taken by international actors. The Paris Agreement aims to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, but there are concerns about whether it is enough. Transparency is a key component of the agreement, but some countries have not met their commitments. Maggie emphasizes the urgency of the climate crisis and the need for countries to work together. She concludes by discussing the challenges of enforcing solutions and the tragedy of the commons. Hey y'all, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good evening, good evening, good morning, this is Maggie again. Welcome back to my Climate Seed podcast where we dive into pressing global issues in the world of international relations, or as we call it on this podcast, IR. I'm absolutely thrilled to see how many of y'all tune in every week to listen to my new podcast, What Are We Going to Do About Our World? Today, in the 18th episode of my series, we're diving into Paris and Beyond, the Evolution of Global Climate Governance. Climate change is a challenge that demands international cooperation. In this episode, we'll unpack how international agreements, such as the Paris Agreement in 2015, and international organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or the IPCC for short, attempted to navigate the complex world of global environmental stewardship. Next, we will examine how people present at the Paris Agreement Commission were initially very optimistic in what they hoped the Paris Agreement would accomplish for addressing climate change, and what it maybe didn't. And finally, I have a portion of Greta Thunberg's criticizing past efforts on behalf of international actors, which failed to effectively address climate change for y'all to listen to, and hopefully learn more about how serious the situation is on an international scale. Let's dive into the Paris Agreement, because it was such a crucial step in challenging the negative assumptions about global cooperation. Under the Paris Agreement, countries aim to keep global warming below two degrees Celsius, ideally at 1.5 degrees Celsius, but there are no search quotas or targets for individual countries. They set their own commitments, while the IPCC monitors progress of the goal. However, the competition at the Paris Agreement Convention underscored the limitations for states, and it raised concerns about whether policies would actually do enough to combat climate change. But it's important to understand the intricacies of what was actually achieved at the Paris Agreement Convention. About a month after the convention, the CSIS Energy and National Security Program, co-hosted by Paul Budner, Senior Director for Energy and Climate Change at the White House, and Richard Duke, the Deputy Director for Energy and Climate Change at the White House, released a podcast episode describing what happened at the convention, and what they thought it would mean going forward. In this episode, they discussed what was achieved at the convention, and what those achievements mean for addressing climate change in the future. They shed light on the very vital components, such as transparency. Richard remarked, Key parts of this machine are transparency, and that was, of course, a strong focus. We strengthened the substance of the climate regime's transparency system. It is binding. So the requirements to be transparent and submit regular inventories and reports and have those reviewed are binding. They are binding on both developed and developing countries. They are based on the latest best practice of the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and progress toward the targets is tracked for the first time for both developed and developing countries at a minimum of every two years. And of course, essentially, Richard just shed light on one of the core parts of the machine, referring to the Paris Agreement Convention, is that international actors involved have to be transparent, and that any attempts to conceal their commitments' shortcomings could undermine the entire agreement. And this is actually exactly what ended up happening. I mean, as a whole, we did not hold up our commitments, and some people had major issues with this outcome. One activist that is fairly well known in the climate change world, Greta Thunberg, has offered a poignant critique of the actions, or lack thereof, taken by international actors regarding climate change. Her impassioned speeches and activism highlight the urgency of the climate crisis and really call into question the effectiveness of initiatives like the Paris Agreement. Thunberg's criticism serves as the reminder that while international organizations do play a crucial role, they must also be held accountable for their actions and shortcomings. To have a 67% chance of staying below a 1.5 degrees global temperature rise, the best odds given by the IPCC, the world had 420 gigatons of CO2 left to emit back on January 1st, 2018. Today, that figure is already down to less than 350 gigatons. How dare you pretend that this can be solved with just business as usual and some technical solutions? With today's emissions levels, that remaining CO2 budget will be entirely gone within less than eight and a half years. Thunberg's powerful words remind us of the urgency of the climate crisis. Now, let's shift gears a little bit back to the Paris Agreement. The agreement shows us how crucial it is for countries to work together to tackle climate change. It's like a big global team effort. This agreement reflects the shared roles and values that guide countries in working together on big issues. Global governance, which is basically all the ways countries cooperate on global problems, helps us manage things like climate change. Understanding how these ideas fit together help us see why the Paris Agreement is such a crucial step in the fight to address climate change. Now, for the wrap-up portion of this episode, I will conclude by saying international organizations are key players in tackling the climate change crisis, but it's not always easy to enforce solutions. Looking at the Paris Agreement through the lens of international relations, particularly the liberalism paradigm, helps us understand the importance of teamwork, shared goals, and considering diverse perspectives. Voices like Greta Thunberg's remind us of the urgency of the climate crisis and prompt us to gain deeper insights into the complexities of global environmental governance. This is where international actors can take advantage of the agreement. When considering enforcement, states often make excuses for not meeting their targets. This highlights a critical issue, which is the failure to enforce solutions. Drawing on insights from international relations scholars, we are provided with a deeper understanding of the Paris Agreement's implications, but what we see here is a classic example of the tragedy of the commons. The Paris Agreement relies on nations acting in their collective interest to address a shared problem, but individual nations may prioritize their own short-term needs over long-term sustainability, ultimately depleting the global resource of a stable climate. And that's all I have for you lovelies today. Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of What Are We Going to Do About Our World on the Climate Seed Podcast. Let's continue exploring the dynamic connections within the world of international relations and walking through the steps needed to effectively address climate change. Until next week's episode, when I'll be talking about the significant impact that former President Barack Obama made on climate change developments when he was president. See y'all next week. Y'all soon!