What The Paris Climate Agreement Means For Renewable Energy

The Paris Agreement, reached on December 12, 2015 after the two-week negotiations in France during the course of the 21st Conference of the Parties ("COP21") to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ("UNFCCC"), says very little about renewable energy but means a lot to these activities.

In fact, the only reference to renewable energy appears in the recitals of the Decision, the first part of the text agreed upon on December 12, 2015 and to which the Agreement is annexed. There, the Conference of the Parties acknowledges "the need to promote universal access to sustainable energy in developing countries, in particular in Africa, through the enhanced deployment of renewable energy."