A deal to limit the increase in global temperatures to less than 2C was reached at the climate change summit in Paris after two weeks of negotiations, over the weekend. The pact is the first to commit all countries to cut carbon emissions. Environmental activists described the agreement as “historic”, but the developing countries, which bear the most brunt of global warming, are arguably the biggest winners. Among other key things agreed in the deal, developing countries will get $100 billion a year in climate finance by 2020. But what also emerged as another big win is that the biggest polluters (developed countries), listened to the concerns of the developing world, and came on board to adopt an even more ambitious goal to limit warming in their respective countries. However, despite this historic milestone, the war against environmental degradation is far from over in the developing countries, where the majority of the population depends on forests for survival. The Paris deal is a good start, but it also challenges the developing countries to address climate change problems as a result of human activity like cutting of trees and encroachment on wetlands. According to a recent survey on sustainable food and agriculture by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), forests provide 9.5 million cubic metres of timber and fuel wood everyday globally. Rwanda has already embarked on this journey to go green in all aspects including a green energy strategy, green economy and a plan to have 30% of the country covered by forests by 2017. However, although Rwanda is on course, and its climate change policies have been hailed, more efforts are needed to achieve the desired green economy.
