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Finding Information on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement

You may have read in the news that the United States and China recently ratified the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But what exactly does the agreement say, and how many nations must ratify it before it goes into effect? The United Nations provides answers to these questions online, along with the full text of the agreement itself (available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian).

For some historical context, as well as a helpful summary that isn’t written in legalese, you might also want to check out this report from the Congressional Research Service: Climate Change: Frequently Asked Questions about the 2015 Paris Agreement. The report explains the agreement’s requirements and recommendations, the ratification process, and the relationship of the agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.   

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has issued lots of useful reports on climate change. Here are links to a few of them:
To find more, see our previous blog post entitled Finding CRS Reports.

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