Paris Accord Ratified But Is It Too Late?

FEATURING STEVE HERZ – The European Union on Wednesday signed the landmark global climate deal drafted in Paris last year at the COP 21 meeting. This means that there are now enough nations that have ratified the accord to consider it a global treaty, which will go into effect in 30 days.

To mark the occasion, President Obama made a televised address where he hailed, “a historic day in the fight to protect our planet for future generations.” Obama added, “If we follow through on the commitments that this Paris agreement embodies, history may well judge it as a turning point for our planet.”

But the grand announcement comes as a hundred or so lives have been claimed by a massive hurricane hitting Haiti and bearing down on the US’s south eastern coast. Hurricanes are expected to become stronger and more deadly in a warming climate.

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Steve Herz, senior attorney with the Sierra Club’s International Climate and Energy Campaign.