UW experts call Paris climate agreement ‘bold,’ ‘encouraging’

The agreement, reached Dec. 12 in Paris, establishes goals for reducing carbon emissions by 2020.

World leaders gathered in Paris in December to forge a global agreement to limit planet-warming carbon emissions. Similar summits had been held before, but the event was the first this century to end with an international agreement. The U.S., China and other countries will sign the document into law on Friday—appropriately enough, Earth Day.

The Paris talks were attended by thousands of delegates, including four undergraduates from the University of Washington. At the time, UW researchers in Seattle applauded the expansion of discussions to include public policy and human health, and emphasized the need for a timely, durable international agreement.

Now, a few UW faculty members from the College of the Environment, Center for Environmental Politics, Jackson School of International Studies, and Clean Energy Institute comment on the signing as countries move toward implementing the agreement.