Limit the damage we inflict on our planet

THE just-concluded Paris climate summit has surprisingly reached a deal, although it has received as much criticism as praise since it was announced early Sunday morning. It deserves both, but the initiative also deserves to be given a chance to work.

The Paris climate agreement commits countries to limiting the rise in global temperatures until the year 2100 to “well below” 2 degrees C above its level at the beginning of the industrial age, and “to endeavor to limit” them further to 1.5 degrees °C. Global average temperatures have already risen about 1 degree °C since that time, so in order to reach the target, significant emission cuts will be necessary, which will in turn require big changes in how the world gets the energy it needs.