The decision of US President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement has become number one news in the world. But what is the Paris Climate Agreement and what does it have to do with Armenia?

The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which regulates the greenhouse gas emissions mitigation measures starting from the year 2020. 

The agreement, which replaced the Kyoto Protocol, was adopted by consensus at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Paris on 12 December 2015. It was signed on 22 April 2016.

The National Assembly (NA) of Armenia ratified the Paris Agreement introduced by the President at the session held on February 9.

The agreement is important in that it has for the first time in history united all the efforts of the world superpowers aimed at retaining climate changes. 195 countries have so far signed the agreement.

A glimpse at figures

The agreement provides for the following obligations: not allow the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels at the expense of reduction of emissions; limit the emission of greenhouse gases within the period from 2050 to 2100, and provide support to more poor states for fighting the consequences of climate changes.

The last point should be implemented at the expense of developed states. The developing countries, which find it especially hard to reduce emissions, promised to help in the amount of $100 billion per year until 2020.

According to the data released by the World Bank for 2013, China comes first in the list of countries according to the share of greenhouse gas emissions per year (28 percent). It is followed by U.S. (14.47 percent). Armenia comes 120th (less than 0.03 percent per year or 4,961 kt).

According to the new report of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency for 2015, the index of greenhouse gas emissions amounts to 4,637 kt per year in Armenia. In contrast, the same index is equal to 10,641,789 kt in China and 5,172,338 in US.