China and India Join Climate Change Agreement

China and India, two countries that are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, have finally joined the Copenhagen Climate Change Accord. The agreement aims for limiting the rise in global temperatures to at most 2 degrees celcius beyond temperatures before the industrial era. A NY Times article on the inclusion of these two developing countries in the agreement states:

The 192 nations gathered at the Copenhagen climate meeting did not formally adopt the accord but merely voted to “take note” of it. The inclusion of China and India in the accord has only a minor practical effect but will provide a boost for the agreement’s credibility.

“After careful consideration, India has agreed to such a listing,” Reuters quoted India’s environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, as telling Parliament on Tuesday. “We believe that our decision to be listed reflects the role India played in giving shape to the Copenhagen accord. This will strengthen our negotiating position on climate change.”

The inclusion of these two large greenhouse gas producing countries in the Copenhagen Agreement will not solve global warming, but it will greatly reduce the amount of global warming gasses that we will continue to pump into our atmosphere in the future, that is, assuming that the countries reach their promised reductions in emissions.