On Day 1 of President Biden’s presidency, his administration rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, the monumental global agreement where leaders of 196 countries agreed to tackle climate change. As a POSITIVE ACTION (the world knows we need more positivity), we sent our collective love and an all-caps THANK YOU to our DEAR MR. PRESIDENT via postcards.
Ready to start the conversation with your kids about the Paris Climate Agreement? Here are some easy conversation starters to get you started!
Q: What does COP stand for and what is COP 26?
A: COP stands for the Conference of the Parties and is attended by countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – a treaty agreed in 1994.
COP 26 is the 26th meeting, which is why it’s called COP26, that will be held later this year in Glasgow, UK. The last conference, COP25, was held in Madrid, Spain, in November 2019 with Greta Thunberg giving a BIG speech at the event.
Q: You probably hear a lot of people in the news talk about the Paris Climate Agreement. But, what is the Paris Climate Agreement?
A: The Paris Agreement was signed and adopted in 2015 in Paris, France. It’s an important tool for protecting our climate and was signed by most of the world to set targets for climate action. One of these targets is to limit this century’s global temperature rise to no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6F) above pre- industrial levels. It also provides a road map for how to limit temperatures to only 1.5C to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
Q: Why is the Paris Climate Agreement important?
A: The signing of the Paris Agreement changed the course of global climate action. It united almost all of the world’s nations to tackle climate change, adapt to its impacts, and support developing countries. It is important because of its ambitions to limit global temperature rise, promote human rights, and establish a collaborative approach to facing climate change.
Q: Why is COP26 important?
A: COP26 is being described as the most significant climate event since the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The COP25 meeting in Madrid finished with lots of big issues unresolved, but an agreement was made about cutting carbon dioxide. Each nation agreed to devise a plan to cut their carbon emissions by the next conference, COP26.
Did you have a great conversation? Ready to do more? Make your voice heard and join our #RaceToZero campaign.