Climate change is a significant problem that causes various issues. Climate change is caused by multiple factors, but the biggest reason is due to increased levels of harmful greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that leads to global warming. Climate change is a complex problem that results in contaminated environments, endangered native species, and heightened sea levels. Consequently, they pose harm to people’s lives. The climate has slowly yet continuously changed over history, and international agreements between countries have played a big role in preserving the environment. Therefore, this article will give readers broad knowledge about the three most famous international agreements where countries altogether cooperate together to lessen climate change.

The Paris Agreement

The most famous international cooperation is the Paris Agreement that was adopted in 2015, during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21). The Paris Agreement tries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and leads sustainable practices in almost all of the countries worldwide. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), this treaty particularly limits temperature rise up to two degrees Celsius. The reason is that beyond two degrees, there would be harmful impacts on ecosystems, economic stability, and people’s lives. To prevent that, the Paris Agreement makes an effort to keep global temperature rise less than two degrees Celsius. Based on the details from the United Nations, every five years, countries must constantly update their new targets, named Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). In this way, the Paris Agreement keeps track of the progress of all countries involved in the agreement (UNFCCC). Overall, many people agree that the Paris Agreement played an important role in lessening the impact of climate change , enabling more fluid cooperation between countries. As a result, the Paris Agreement has greatly contributed to preserving ecosystems and the world economy.

The Kyoto Protocol

Another significant international cooperation is the Kyoto Protocol. Adopted in 1997 and started in 2005, the Kyoto Protocol is the first global treaty made to reduce the worldwide impact of climate change. Based on the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol served as the first platform that eventually led to the Paris Agreement. The Kyoto Protocol tries to reduce international greenhouse emissions by about five percent compared to the 1990 greenhouse gas emission levels. The key difference between the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement is that while the Paris Agreement lets each country set their own targets, the Kyoto Protocol sets mandatory targets for all countries that they must follow upon. Eventually, the Kyoto Protocol faced various challenges. The United States did not accept the protocol, while China and other developing nations were free from following the protocol’s targets because they were considered developing countries (UNFCCC). Still, some countries follow the Kyoto Protocol; however, many countries have moved away and work together under the Paris Agreement. Despite many issues, the Kyoto Protocol remains a remarkable climate change agreement that was made to lessen the effects of climate change on our lives.

The Montreal Protocol

The last international agreement is the Montreal Protocol. The Montreal Protocol seeks to protect the Earth’s ozone layer, which effectively blocks the sun's ultraviolet radiation from harming the people. They do this by limiting the use of harmful chemicals, or specifically, the ozone-depleting substances (ODS), which greatly damage Earth’s ozone layer. As stated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Montreal Protocol is considered the most successful environmental agreement for several reasons. One big reason is that this agreement was able to remove about 98 percent of ozone-depleting substances, allowing the ozone layer to recover. Another reason is that it allowed greater cooperation between countries, as all the countries worldwide, not leaving out a single country, followed this agreement. Thus, the Montreal Protocol truly shows how significant worldwide cooperation is, in order to preserve the environment and address global climate issues.

Significance of International Agreements

Like the three agreements introduced in this article, there are various international efforts that countries make collectively to preserve the world economy, ecosystems, and most importantly, people’s lives. Although we can’t sense that there is such global cooperation between countries in realistic terms, the truth is that even at this moment, there are conferences and discussions between countries that enable us, the citizens, to live peacefully in healthy environments, thanks to these international agreements. As climate change would continuously occur throughout the future, there would be greater need for more cooperation and global assistance from many countries to fight against these challenges. Throughout human history, we have greatly relied on these international agreements until now. Naturally, our future and the extent of future climate change would significantly rely on these international efforts and protocols.