by Christopher Marinelli
Over 147 national leaders along with 195 representatives will be attending the COP21 United Nations Climate Conference in Paris to reach an agreement on how to address climate change. President Obama is a strong advocate to reducing the global footprint of the world’s second largest carbon contributor the United States and has the support of two-thirds of American citizens, according to The New York Times.
This meeting comes after several months of environmental awareness efforts by President Obama, such as his documentation of Alaska and several interviews engaged with VICE on the global warming issues.
The main goal to be reached is an international binding agreement that will hold each nation accountable to reducing greenhouse gas and carbon emissions. Negotiations will take place on how and who will pay for these financial commitments to reducing green house gases.
The U.S. has committed its proposal of reducing its green house gases in an extensive review. Parts of this include the Clean Power Plan, a proposal to increase guidelines that would reduce power sector levels to below 2005 standards by 2030.
Other plans include new standards for heavy-duty engines and vehicles, methods in reducing methane levels, and a goal with the Department of Energy by 3 billion metric tons by 2030.
It is especially important for our generation of college students to not only be conscious of our environmental impact, but also to start committing to our own sustainable practices.
Simple practices such as reusable coffee cups, reusable water bottles, and recycling paper instead of throwing them out along with a number of other things could make a big difference. It just takes everyone to commit and as a collective society we can make a difference.
The global leaders ranging from third world countries to world super powers have become aware of the impact we have on climate change. As the people of the countries these leaders represent, it is of utmost importance for us to commit to reducing our carbon footprints as well.