Finally, instead of giving China and India a passport to pollution, as Trump asserts, the pact is the first time these two major developing countries have agreed on concrete and ambitious climate commitments. The two countries, which are already poised to be world leaders in renewable energy, have made considerable progress in achieving their Paris goals. And since Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the agreement, the Chinese and Indian leaders have reaffirmed their commitment and continued to implement domestic policies to achieve their goals. The Paris Agreement is the first legally binding universal global agreement on climate change adopted at the Paris Climate Change Conference (COP21) in December 2015. In an effort to „significantly reduce the risks and effects of climate change,“ the agreement calls for the average increase in global temperature over this century to be well below 2 degrees Celsius, while continuing efforts to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. It also calls on countries to commit as quickly as possible to comparing global greenhouse gas emissions and to become carbon neutral by the second half of this century. To achieve these goals, 186 countries – responsible for more than 90% of global emissions – presented CO2 reduction targets prior to the Paris conference, known as „determined national contributions“ (INDC). These targets set out the commitments made by each country to reduce emissions until 2025 or 2030, including macroeconomic targets for co2 reduction and individual commitments of some 2,250 cities and 2,025 companies. Climate change is a global emergency that transcends national borders. This is an issue that requires coordinated solutions at all levels and international cooperation to help countries move towards a low-carbon economy. Implementation of the agreement by all Member States will be evaluated every five years, with the first evaluation in 2023. The result will be used as an input for new national contributions from Member States.
[30] The inventory will not be national contributions/achievements, but a collective analysis of what has been achieved and what remains to be done. In addition, countries are working to reach „the global peak in greenhouse gas emissions“ as soon as possible.