What Does The Paris Agreement Mean For The UK Energy Industry?

The Paris Accord has been around a few years now, but lots of us have been seeing it in the news recently again – largely due to the US exit from the agreement. However, amongst all the furore surrounding that, it’s easy to lose sight of the finer details of the agreement itself, and what our participation means for the UK energy industry – including solar! So what exactly is the Paris Accord, and how does it affect us?

What Is The Paris Climate Accord?

Essentially, it’s an agreement between almost every country on Earth to do more to tackle climate change, namely by cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The Paris Agreement was first drafted back in late 2015 – fast forward to today, and 195 member countries have signed the agreement. Of those, 148 of them have ratified it, officially bringing it into force within their own national borders. (The United States has indeed recently withdrawn, but we’ll come to that in a second.)

Remember, there are only around 196 legally recognised countries in the entire world. It’s no small feat to get almost every single nation on the planet to share the same goals, and it illustrates just how important clean energy and environmental initiatives are in today’s global consciousness. It’s not just politicians either – green causes and social responsibility are becoming ever-more crucial to the average consumer, too.

The Aims Of The Paris Accord

They’re ambitious, true, but in principle they’re actually fairly simple. They include:

• To keep global temperatures well below 2.0C above pre-industrial levels, with a view to limiting them even more to 1.5C
• To limit the amount of human-emitted greenhouse gases to levels that the trees, soil and oceans can eventually start to absorb naturally
• To review each country’s contribution regularly – the timescale at the moment is every five years
• For the Accord’s richest countries to provide financial support to poorer countries, assisting them in reaching their target.

How Does This Affect Us Here In The UK?

In a nutshell, the widespread commitment to the Paris Accord hammers home the global dedication to green initiatives. Few other causes in history can claim to have such united support amongst all the nations on Earth, and our national energy industries are likely to see changes accordingly. With government endorsements, we’re going to see new technological leaps and innovations in clean energy.

Renewable industries such as solar power for businesses are going to be amongst the first to enjoy these benefits, and UK companies like yours will want to ensure they’re positioned to prosper in a world with an undeniably greener outlook. After all, not only do renewable industries have steadily increasing levels of public support behind them, but now the world’s governments are throwing their weight at the issue. The only question remains – can any UK business afford to ignore all that?

Now, we know what you’re thinking. The United States has indeed withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, which is one of the main reasons it’s been making headlines again recently. But to be honest, it already looks like the responsibility of that is going to rest squarely with America. It certainly hasn’t affected the resolve of any other nations – if press coverage is anything to go by, it only appears to have strengthened it, as other countries double down on their climate change commitments. It’s certainly not a reason for UK businesses to dismiss the enormous momentum behind green initiatives.

The Benefits Of Solar Power For Your Business

As we’ve covered extensively, the solar industry has already broken several records just this year, and despite occasional lapses in government support in recent years, this momentum doesn’t show any signs of slowing! Now, with all global powers on the same page, it’s looking increasingly likely that a green outlook will become the expected norm for businesses the world over. That means that undertaking actions like drawing power from brand-new solar panels and industrial solar panels will be easier and more profitable than ever – so isn’t it time to give it a go?

As a bonus, any extra electricity generated by your businesses’ solar panels can be sold straight back to the National Grid using the Feed-In Tariff, so you can reap a direct financial reward. If that’s not an incentive, at Low Carbon Energy we don’t know what is!

Give us a call on 08456 808 963 to see how we can help revolutionise your energy plans, or email us on info@lowcarbonenergy.co. We’re here to help!

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