Obama's Signature: Pollution Peace Treaty

President Barack Obama made significant efforts to address pollution and climate change during his tenure. Notably, he played a pivotal role in the United States' signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016, becoming the first signatory to the treaty. Obama also pledged $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund and took steps to reduce America's carbon emissions and improve resilience to extreme weather events. Additionally, Obama advanced environmental justice initiatives, aiming to protect the health of communities disproportionately affected by pollution, particularly low-income and minority groups. Obama's administration signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Environmental Justice and Executive Order 12898 to develop strategies for addressing these inequities. However, Obama faced criticism for not submitting the Paris Climate Agreement to the Senate for advice and consent, sparking debates about the agreement's nature and constitutional implications.

Obama Administration's efforts to protect communities overburdened by pollution

In 2011, the Obama administration announced its commitment to ensuring that all Americans were strongly protected from environmental and health hazards. The administration recognised that low-income, minority, and Native American communities were disproportionately affected by pollution and its associated health impacts. As a result, federal agencies signed an Environmental Justice Memorandum of Understanding (EJ MOU), agreeing to develop environmental justice strategies to protect the health of people living in communities overburdened by pollution. The EJ MOU outlined processes and procedures to help overburdened communities engage more efficiently and effectively with agencies as they make decisions.

The Obama administration also took steps to elevate the conversation around environmental justice and address inequities in affected communities. In December 2011, Cabinet Secretaries and other senior administration officials met with more than 100 environmental justice leaders from across the country to discuss issues such as reducing air pollution and its impact on the health of Americans. The administration also worked with U.S. automakers to improve energy efficiency and raise mileage standards, resulting in a reduction in pollution and greenhouse gases.

Additionally, President Obama played a key role in the Paris Agreement, which was signed by the United States in September 2016. The agreement committed all countries to reducing their emissions and cooperating on adapting to climate impacts. President Obama also pledged $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund as part of this agreement.

Furthermore, the Obama administration's collaboration with China resulted in the Kigali Agreement, an amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which aimed to reduce hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a highly polluting greenhouse gas used in cooling and refrigeration.

The Paris Agreement

In 2013, President Obama and Chinese President Xi agreed to work together to achieve a global treaty to reduce hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), highly polluting greenhouse gases used in cooling and refrigeration. This agreement, known as the Kigali Agreement, was signed in Kigali and was an amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which aimed to preserve the ozone layer. This early cooperation on climate change set the stage for further collaboration between the two countries, which are two of the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases.

In 2014, Presidents Obama and Xi stood together in Beijing to announce landmark climate targets for their countries to meet, and in 2015, they laid out additional actions and a roadmap for reaching a strong agreement in Paris. The United States and China's joint leadership on climate change was a significant driver of global action and contributed to the success of the Paris Agreement negotiations.

The Kigali Agreement

The Kigali Amendment is an amendment to the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty designed to protect and restore the ozone layer. The Montreal Protocol aimed to phase out the use of ozone-depleting substances (ODS), specifically targeting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). While HFCs do not deplete the ozone layer, they are still harmful to the environment as they are powerful greenhouse gases. The Kigali Amendment adds HFCs to the list of chemicals that countries have committed to reducing.

The Amendment was signed by 197 countries in Kigali, Rwanda, on October 15, 2016. It sets specific targets for reducing HFC consumption and production, with varying timelines for different groups of countries. Developed countries are expected to begin reducing HFC consumption from 2019, while most developing countries will freeze consumption in 2024, and a small number of countries with unique circumstances will freeze consumption in 2028. The agreement also provides financing to assist countries in transitioning to climate-friendly alternatives.

The Kigali Amendment is a legally binding agreement, creating rights and obligations in international law. It strengthens the Paris Agreement, which sets a target of keeping the rise in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. The Kigali Amendment provides more concrete and mandatory targets with fixed timelines, aiming to prevent the emission of HFCs equivalent to 70-80 billion tons of CO2 by 2050. This reduction in HFCs is expected to avoid up to 0.5 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century.

The Clean Air Act

The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) program sets standards for concentrations of certain pollutants in outdoor air, including ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, lead, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. The National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants program sets standards for emissions of particular hazardous pollutants from specific sources.

The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments revised Section 112 to first require the issuance of technology-based standards for major sources and certain area sources. "Major sources" are stationary sources or groups of stationary sources that emit or have the potential to emit 10 tons per year or more of a hazardous air pollutant, or 25 tons per year or more of a combination of hazardous air pollutants. An "area source" is any stationary source that is not a major source. For major sources, Section 112 requires that the EPA establish emission standards that require the maximum degree of reduction in emissions of hazardous air pollutants.

The Obama Administration took several steps to advance efforts to protect the health of communities overburdened by pollution, particularly minority, low-income, and tribal communities. Federal agencies signed the "Memorandum of Understanding on Environmental Justice and Executive Order 12898" (EJ MOU), agreeing to develop environmental justice strategies to protect the health of people living in communities overburdened by pollution. The Obama Administration also worked to reduce America's carbon emissions and raise climate change with other world leaders, ultimately leading to a nine percent reduction in America's carbon pollution by the time President Obama left office. In September 2016, the United States, under President Obama, signed the Paris Agreement, committing to reducing emissions and cooperating on adapting to climate impacts.

The Green Climate Fund

The GCF aims to expand collective human action to respond to climate change by mobilizing funding for investment in low-emission and climate-resilient development. It was first mentioned as the "Copenhagen Green Climate Fund" during the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-15) in Copenhagen. The fund was formally established in 2010 during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun and its governing instrument was adopted at the 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 17) in Durban, South Africa.

The GCF is an operating entity of the financial mechanism of the UNFCCC and is intended to be the centrepiece of efforts to raise climate finance under this framework. It works to increase access for developing countries by using a country-owned partnership approach, flexible financing solutions, and climate investment expertise. The GCF allocates its resources to low-emission and climate-resilient projects and programmes in developing countries, with a focus on the needs of highly vulnerable societies, such as Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

The United States, under President Obama, committed to contributing US$3 billion to the GCF as part of its pledge to the Paris Agreement. Obama initiated the transfer of a second $500 million installment to the fund in his final three days in office, with $2 billion remaining to be paid.

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